2: BREAKFAST AT THE DINER

Emmett made sure for the third time that all his notes for the Garrison party were in order. Clipping the small index cards together, he slid them into the large pocket of the day planner that Teddy had gotten him for his last birthday and pulled out another stack of note cards.

Taking out a pen, he wrote a few notes on the top card; sucking his lips in, he wondered if he could get a discount on the glossy silver doves for the Brown wedding, or would he have to pay full price again? Mario had promised him a discount the last time, but in the end, the paperwork had slipped through with no discount. He figured he'd give the big burly bear one more chance, but if there was no discount, then he'd give Patty's House of Paper a call and see if Patty was willing to give him a better price. He didn't want to have to deal with Patty, not after that flighty queen had stolen his costume idea for Babylon's Halloween party last year, but business was business after all.

He was taken out of his musings when Michael suddenly slammed himself down into the booth across from him. He looked over at his friend with a welcoming smile.

Shit, Emmett's smile broke. Just by the look on Michael's face, Emmett could tell he was in one of those moods. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was wrong with his friend; it was either the fact that Justin was coming home this week, or he'd heard the news about Mel and Linds. Emmett had heard about it from Teddy earlier in the week. He hoped he was wrong, but he doubted it.

"Good morning, Michael." Emmett tried to smile again, hoping he could forgo the bitching and moaning he knew was coming.

"Yeah, right, who told you there was anything good about this morning?" Michael snapped.

"Well, it could be a good one if you just look at the bright side of things," Emmett said as he paper-clipped his notes and put them away. Closing the book, he slid it into the large shoulder bag; he might need to make a quick getaway if things went the way he thought they would.

"Who died and left you Mary fucking Sunshine?" Michael whined. "Did you know that Mel and Lindsay have split up again? I bet you didn't know that, did you? What the fuck is going to happen to my daughter now? How many fucking times are we going to have to go through this?"

"Michael, I really think we should all just stay out of it and let the girls handle it," Emmett tried. He knew it wouldn't work, but this southern boy always held hope. At least Michael wasn't bitching about Justin. Emmett had heard enough of Michael bitching about that to last a lifetime.

"You think I'm just going to stand back and let my daughter's life get fucked up?" Michael said with contempt.

"Who's fucking up your daughter's life?" Ted asked as he slid into the booth next to Michael. He looked at Michael, and when no answer was forthcoming, he eyed the man across from him.

"Nobody," Emmett said with a sigh. "As you know, the girls have decided to take a break from each other at the moment, and it's their business, nobody else's."

"Oh that, yeah, I talked to Mel about that," Ted said as he looked around for a waitress.

Michael practically broke his neck turning to glare at Ted. "You knew? When? When did you find out?"

"Well, this is Friday, so I guess I found out Wednesday night," Ted said.

Michael's mouth flew open at Ted's revelation.

"Mel called and we talked for a while. She had some financial questions she needed to ask me."

"Wednesday... you fucking knew on Wednesday, but you didn't think to tell me about it? Lindsay only told me this morning!" Michael couldn't believe that Ted wouldn't have told him as soon as he found out. He turned back to Emmett. "Did you know? When the fuck did you find out? I can't believe the two of you didn't tell me. I thought you guys were my friends."

"Michael, it doesn't matter when we found out, and we are your friends, but it's also our job as THEIR friends to stay out of it. You wouldn't like it if we all stuck our noses into your and Ben's personal business; now, would you?" Emmett quietly said.

"Whaaat! This IS my personal business; this is my daughter we're talking about," Michael whined.

"Yes, we all know that Jenny is your daughter, but first and foremost, those two girls will always put the kids first, and you know that. They would never do anything to harm either Gus or Jenny." Emmett could feel a slight pain behind his left ear; he noticed it more and more when dealing with Michael lately.

"Listen to Emmett," Ted said; he raised his eyes, where the hell was their waitress? He just wanted to get his breakfast and get to work before Michael threw one of his hissy fits. He decided then and there to order his meal to go.

"What the fuck does Emmett know about it? he couldn't raise a fucking plant if it was plastic!" Michael snapped. Crossing his arms over his chest, he glared at both his so-called friends.

"No, but he's a good friend, a damn good friend, and he's trying to give you some really good advice right now, so why don't you think about someone else besides yourself for once and listen!" Ted snapped back at him. "Just back the fuck off, okay?"

Emmett smiled at his best friend; he was so glad he had Teddy in his life, especially after the way their nightmare of a relationship had ended. He could have lost him, either to the drugs, or the failed attempt at living a happy homo life.

"Oh yeah, did Mel happen to mention why she left Lindsay? Did she? It was that fucking Justin's fault! Did she tell you that?!"

The friends watched as the spittle flew from the other man's mouth; he was really working himself up for a good one, and they weren't looking forward to it.

Emmett dropped his head into his hands and blew out a long breath. Not again, not again, please dear Lord, not again.

Ted just stared at Michael for a moment. He couldn't fucking believe how the man's mind worked. "And how the hell did Justin break them up? The kid's been in New York for two years? How could he have done anything?"

"And he should fucking stay there if you ask me, that fucking kid has been trouble from day one. He's never done one good thing for this family if you ask me!" Michael slammed his hand down on the tabletop, grimacing slightly as he pulled his hand to his chest and rubbed it against his shirt.

"Fuck you, Michael, nobody did ask you!" Ted's raised voice caused a few of the customers to glance their way. It wasn't out of the ordinary to hear this particular group get loud, but it was always interesting.

"Please don't start this again, Michael, it's been quite a while since you have gone into your ‘Justin is the Anti-Christ' mode, and frankly, I don't care for it at all. I didn't like it years ago, and I don't want to hear it now," Emmett told the sulking man.

"Tell me one good thing that brat has ever done... one thing?!" Michael was spitting again. "See, you can't, can you?"

"I don't have to defend Justin to you, you never listen anyway," Emmett declared, thinking of the comic book that Justin still did for Michael, along with all his commission work, and helping Brian out at Kinnetik when he was asked. "He's a member of this family and he always will be. Do I need to mention he happens to be the partner of your best friend? That should be enough in itself."

"He is not Brian's partner, never has been, and never will be. He's just a trick that has stayed too long..."

"Just stop right there! Don't even go there," Ted said sternly, holding his hand up in Michael's face. "Justin is not a trick, and he never has been, no matter what you tell yourself."

"He's just a fucking stalker, that's all he's ever been. He wouldn't leave Brian alone, and Brian didn't have the heart to kick his ass to the curb; he still felt guilty..."

"Brian has nothing to feel guilty about, Michael, so just don't even go there. I told you I don't want to hear it," Ted stated. This was starting to really get on his nerves. He felt like someone had turned time around, and it was six years in the past.

Emmett smiled; it was an evil smile, but still a smile. "Michael, do you know what the definition of a stalker is?" Emmett asks, with that evil smile in place.

"Yeah, Justin fucking Taylor," Michael said snidely.

"No, it's someone who follows someone else around; he always wants to know what the other person is doing, and what they are thinking. They get jealous if they think the other person is with someone else."

"Em, don't do this." Ted knew where his friend was going, but he doubted if Michael would get it.

Michael looked at Ted; he didn't understand what Teddy had meant by that. He looked back at Emmett.

"Stalkers make constant phone calls, morning, noon, and night," Emmett continued, his voice even, almost as if he were telling a story. "They might follow their victim... watching them, watching them do intimate things in private, intimate places... say like backrooms, maybe. Or maybe they wait around, wait until their prey is, say... drunk or drugged, waiting for their chance to get them alone, maybe take them home, help them remove their clothes, put them to bed, hoping that maybe, just maybe, this time their prey will turn to them. That this night will be the night that Bri... ah... I mean, their prey will want to be with them in that private, intimate way. Do you think that might constitute a stalker?"

"Hell yes!" Michael screeched. "That's exactly what Justin did." Michael's head went up and down a few times as if making a point.

Emmett stood. "No, Michael, that isn't what Justin did. Justin got into Brian's face and made him face the fact that Brian cared about him, that Brian loved him, as a real man would do. Oh no, Michael, what I described is what you did to Brian, and did for years. So, if you're gonna sit there and talk shit about Justin, maybe just maybe, you ought to take a good look at why you feel the way you do about Justin. Why do you feel you have to blame that strong, intelligent, beautiful young man for everything that goes wrong in your life? Maybe the answer will come to you, but I doubt it."

Bending over, he kissed Teddy on the cheek, and with a quick ‘later,' he headed for the door.

Michael watched him leave, turning confused eyes to Ted, he blurted out, "What the hell was he talking about, Ted?"

Ted slid out of the booth; maybe he could stop off at the coffee shop around the corner from Kinnetik. Maybe he'd pick up a dozen of those raspberry-glazed muffins, yeah, that's what he'd do. Cynthia loved them, and he'd get a dozen of them and a large coffee to go.

Shaking his head at Michael, he quietly said, "Grow the fuck up, Michael, you're starting to lag too far behind the rest of us; if you get too far behind, you might never catch up."

As Michael watched him leave, he couldn't believe that Emmett and Ted had turned everything around. They should have been talking about that little shit causing trouble once again, yet they were all defending the little asshole.