Michael couldn’t believe what he was seeing, Justin kissing another guy. On the lips. Very eagerly. He just stood there holding the posters for Rage. After all the declarations of love, now the twink was running around with someone else.
As he walked back to his store he felt his own rage grow. Everything Brian had done for Justin and this was the thanks he got. He was Brian Fucking Kinney for crying out loud. After slamming some of his inventory around he remembered he was supposed to meet Ben at the bowling alley. That damn bet his mother made with her cop boyfriend.
At the bowling alley, all he could do was watch Brian and Justin’s interactions. He was looking for any hint that Brian knew about Justin’s affair. Michael knew their rules, hell every gay on Liberty Avenue knew their rules. No kissing, no names and numbers and no repeats. He was sure Justin had broken them all.
“Practice makes perfect,” he heard his Uncle Vic say. He turned back into the conversation.
“Brian’s already is perfect,” Justin said, watching Brian walk in front of him.
“Glad you think so,” Michael said.
He wasn’t mistaking the look Justin gave him. It was a questioning one. Like he was trying to figure out if Michael knew his secret.
After that his mother tried to get Ben on her bowling team. He had to put a stop to that because he had just gotten out of the hospital. It was too much for Ben to be in the competition.
Lying in bed, he was talking while Ben kissed down his chest. He just wanted to unload all of his worries. Thankfully, Ben was his sounding board. Where Brian could get upset at the blink of an eye, Ben was calm and cool.
“I worry about everybody. I worry about Vic, I worry about Ted and Emmett, I worry about Brian and Justin…”
He proceeded to tell Ben what he had seen. Ben then told him not to tell Brian about what he had seen. But could he do that?
The next night he saw Brian in Babylon, some guy’s hand was down his pants. For a split second he almost asked where Justin was. But he kept his mouth shut. It was against everything he was but he listened to Ben. He would let Brian and Justin work it out themselves.
Two months later he wished he could go back in time and just tell Brian. Maybe if he had none of it would have happened. Brian would be making fun of the Center’s carnival. Justin would have realized what a mistake he had made with cheating on Brian.
None of that happened though. Michael kept his mouth shut and everything carried on. Justin ran around behind Brian’s back. Brian ignored the signs. What no one knew was how much Justin’s little fiddler fuck was becoming obsessed with him.
It all came to a head five days ago, Justin wouldn’t leave Brian. Justin let the man into the loft. Michael hoped it wasn’t for sex but he didn’t know. What he did know because Carl told them all was what happened next.
In a fit of jealousy, Ethan Gold stabbed Justin over thirty times. He was dead long before the last stab of the knife. What Ethan wasn’t expecting was Brian coming home to pick up a file he forgot.
After a struggle, Brian was able to get the knife away from Ethan. He knocked him out and called the police. Unfortunately, while he was trying to save an already dead Justin, Ethan came to. Carl said Brian didn’t even turn when before he was stabbed in the neck with the dropped knife. Michael wondered if he knew Justin was gone and thought it was the best option. Just to die with him. Die with the one person who he loved enough to die just not for but to die with.
As Michael stood over the caskets of Brian and Justin he wished he could go back in time. He wished he would have told Brian at Babylon. Then maybe it wouldn’t have happened this way. Both Justin and Brian would be alive. Just maybe.