Facing the first eviction, Justin was worried. Not that he would be kicked out but because one of his new friends might be. They all needed the money, but he hated thinking he would cause anyone harm. Maybe luck would be on his side and his father would be kicked out. In the days since his father had come into the house, they hadn’t said more than a few words to each other. The only person in the house that even seemed to like his dad was Tom. Birds of a feather.

While he got on with most of the people in the house, he was closer to Marisol, Miles, the twins, and Loretta. The one thing he didn’t count on when he decided to do this was no privacy and having no sex life. He missed Brian but more than that at the moment he just missed sex. It was getting pretty desperate as he had been checking out Miles. Too bad the guy was straight and if he had a guess, he had a crush on Marisol. If one guy here came on to him, he probably would go for it, except Tom. Gross.

“Who do you think will get kicked out?” Marisol asked, they were lounging in the shed. The plus about winning they could invite anyone in they wanted.

“My dad, I hope,” Justin said, closing his eyes, a headache was coming on. Since his bashing they happened more but didn’t hurt as bad as his migraines.

“Gotta disagree with you on that, I hope it’s Belinda,” Marisol sneered.

“What’s the deal between you two? Exes? Rivals?”

Marisol huffed. “We were friends and started writing music together. We wrote a song together and she sold it without my permission and didn’t even give me any credit or money for it. I sued her and won. She accused me of costing her a job, I don’t care, she’s a liar and a thief.”

“Oh, yeah, I could see how it sucks to be around her.” He didn’t have to tell people why his dad and he didn’t get along; people could figure it out.

Marisol turned towards Miles who was watching some anime on the television. “So, what’s your story with Joe?”

Miles jumped a bit at being the center of attention from Marisol. “Oh, you know, just roommates. He messed the apartment up and I had to pay everything off. I don’t hate him or anything, just don’t like him.”

Marisol nodded. “He looks like a jerk.”

“He’s not that bad,” Justin said.

Both Marisol and Miles rolled their eyes. “You really do try and like everyone don’t you?” Marisol asked.

“Not really, my ex tried several times to get me to like his friends, but they were just too pretentious.”

“Which ex? The older man?” she asked excitedly.

“No.” He didn’t want to talk about Brian, he was missing him so much. Ever since he had moved, they were living in some sort of weird reality. He missed even when they weren’t together running into Brian.

There was a knock on the door, Miles got up and answered it. “It’s your dad,” he said.

Justin groaned as he got up. He really hoped he could go his whole time here without talking to the man he used to love so much. At one time all he wanted was his dad’s love and support. If he were honest, he still wanted that. He also knew that despite Brian’s protective outer shell, he too had only wanted his father’s love. Something the man died refusing to give to him. Did Justin want one day to bury his own father with never having fixed their relationship?

He knew sooner or later he would have to get this conversation over with. Hopefully this time his father will keep his hands to himself. Of course, if the great Craig Taylor did hit his son on camera, that couldn’t be explained away.

“What do you want Craig?” he asked. He saw the anger shining in his father’s eyes with that.

“I wanted to speak to you in private,” he said, looking over Justin’s shoulder at his friends.

Not wanting his friends to hear what vile things his father was probably going to say to him he agreed. They went to the house and into Justin’s room. No one was there which he knew. With sixteen people in the house, it was hard to get any privacy or illusion of it since he knew the cameras were always there.

“What did you want to talk about?” Justin said, sitting down on his and Laura’s bed.

“You signed up for this to win that money, right?”

“Yeah. The money would be nice to have so I could concentrate fully on my art.” He wasn’t following.

“Well, I could help you win. You’re not made for deception, never have been.”

“I don’t want to deceive anyone. If I win, I want it to be because I deserve it.”

His dad shook his head. “Just listen to yourself Justin, you sound like a child. You were always too sensitive for your own good.”

“Haven’t been a child since you kicked me out when I was seventeen.”

“I only kicked you out because you refused to stop seeing that pedophile.”

“Brian isn’t a pedophile. Would you be saying that if it was a woman I went off with?”

His dad shook his head. “We’re getting sidetracked here. You can win this whole thing.”

“Why do you even care? What’s in it for you?”

“I was thinking, if you win and I help you, we could split the winnings.”

Justin got what was going on now. “The store isn’t doing well, is it? Don’t lie, Brian’s already told me.”

“What does he know about my business?”

“Ever heard of Kinnetic Advertising? That’s his baby, he started it up from nothing. Did you ever wonder why in the past year your stores have shown a noticeable decrease in business? That’s because Rayne Electronics hired Brian. He’s the reason your business is nearing extinction. If I win, I win. If I lose, I lose. But whatever happens, I’ll be me doing it. Your gay, artistic, sensitive, unashamed son.” It reminded him of when he had asked his father for money after he broke up with Brian. Nothing he would ever do would be good enough for him because he would always be gay.

Usually on a Saturday night he would be at Babylon, now more than ever because he liked to keep an eye on it. He was still going but after the episode. Christ when did he become so pathetic. Again, everyone was at his loft but this time instead of a friend of Molly’s, Daphne had come. She wanted to watch the elimination with them. They had no idea who could be going home. It was all a popularity contest but not from the contestants but people at home. People called in and voted for their favorite and the one with the least votes went home.

He knew that Justin had all of gay Pittsburgh on his side because most of them knew him and his story. Brian may have even voted, not that he would tell anyone.

“I hope Sunshine doesn’t get kicked out,” Debbie said.

“Of course, he won’t. It will be that piece of shit ex of mine,” Jennifer said.

“Mother Taylor, there are children present,” Brian said with a smirk. Her cheeks darkened as she looked from Molly to Gus.

“Sorry children.”

Molly rolled her eyes and Gus giggled.

Brian had seen very little of the live stream, it all seemed very tedious. He would have stabbed himself in the eye if he had to put up with that much dull chatter. Also, there had been no sex, what kind of life was that. What he had noticed that while Justin was always with people, Craig was almost always alone.

The program started and everyone in the room got quiet, even Deb.

“There’s my baby,” Emmett squealed. “Oh my god.”

Justin was on screen showering. You couldn’t see anything but his chest up. The way he was washing himself was like porn, like every time Brian had seen him shower. He wasn’t doing anything vulgar; he was just being sensual. It made Brian wish he was in the shower with him, like they had been several times before.

“Hey, Justin,” Marisol said, she was in the bathroom with him, brushing her teeth. “Have you noticed how Brody looks at you?”

“Drop it.” Justin turned around, showing the camera his back.

“Come on, that man has the hots for you. Everyone can tell, I think even your dad noticed.”

Brian froze. What the hell had he missed in the two days since the last show? Brody was the ex-cop that had an affair with his female superior.

“He’s straight, I thought,” Daphne said.

“Totally bi,” Emmett said. “My honeybun over here sprung for me to have the membership to the live stream. That big ol’ bear totally wants a scrumptious piece of our little Sunshine.”

“He’s so old though,” Molly said with a shiver.

“He’s only four years older than Brian,” Mel added.

Brian glared at her then looked back at the screen. It was now showing Brody, who was far from ugly. He was built but not like the waxed, lasered and plucked guys at the gym he frequents. The guy wasn’t Justin’s type at all. Of course, Justin really didn’t have a type, Brian had seen him attracted to almost every kind of man. He lusted after Ron Perlman after Hellboy came out and he looks like a caveman, and not a hot one.

“Do you really think Justin would go there?” Ted asked.

“He’s in that place for three months if he’s lucky, he might even go bi,” Hunter guffawed.

“Yeah, he’s not going to do that,” Daphne said, lowering her head. She would know, wouldn’t she. “Justin wouldn’t cheat on Brian anyway.” She closed her eyes, probably fighting off the urge to say “again.”

“Justin can do what he likes,” Brian said, avoiding her eyes.

“They broke up,” Emmett told her.

“And? You all my think you know Justin, but I remember the day after he met you, Brian. He came up to me on the school steps. He told me he just saw the face of God. His name is Brian Kinney. I was sure it was infatuation, and it was…in the beginning. Every time he would chase after you and you would slap him down, it broke a bit of him. Then you would take him back home, rinse and repeat. I didn’t think you were good enough for him, I thought sooner or later you would break his heart for good and he could move on. Then prom happened,” her voice hitched.

“He was broken beyond repair. The doctors could treat him but not fix him. Jennifer tried to help him but couldn’t reach him.” She looked at Jennifer. “Sorry but it’s true. He got his smile back after you took him back. But that was too domestic, and you had to hurt him again. You couldn’t have made Ethan’s job easier if you tried. But what we all knew, at least I did, Ethan was never going to last. Justin needed someone with balls of steel and that wasn’t Ethan. The best thing he could do was cheat on him. Then Justin was himself again and you two got back together, then broke up, then Babylon went to pieces and back together and getting married. Then broke up again with Justin moving to New York, something I still don’t forgive you for. What this long diatribe means is, breaking up doesn’t mean breaking up forever.”

“I think that annoying girl Hannah will be first out, her voice is like nails on chalkboard,” Carl said, he looked uncomfortable as Brian guessed he did.  

“God, yes, I hope she goes home,” Debbie agreed.

“She won’t, she’s gorgeous and blonde, middle America would vote for her before they would the people of color or the LGBTQ people in that house,” Hunter said, popping some popcorn in his mouth.

“I hate to say it but he’s right. Justin winning will be an uphill battle,” Ted agreed.

“How can you not love Sunshine? Look, he even made that asshole love him,” Debbie said, waving her hand in his direction.

“It’s coming back from commercial,” Hunter told them. “I wish we could skip the ads.”

“I paid for most of those ads, watch it,” Brian said, turning back towards the television.

On the screen was Craig, Tom, and Melissa.

“We really can’t do anything to get anyone out of here,” Melissa said in a hushed voice.

“If we win a competition, sometimes the reward is immunity. If we just stop some of the more popular players winning, then people will vote them out. Come on, do you really think the average joe is going to vote for that butch Loretta or Justin, no offence,” Tom said to Craig.

“I guess you’re right,” Craig agreed.

“I want that blond twink out of here as soon as possible,” Melissa said.

“What do you have against him?” Tom asked.

Brian wondered the same thing; he hadn’t seen much interaction between the two.

“His little bubble butt seems to have turned Brody’s head. He was always a sucker for blonds.”

“Brody?”

“Yeah, before our affair, he had a husband and kids. After the affair came out the husband left him and took the kids. He wants to act like I’m the horrible woman who ruined his marriage. I didn’t hold a gun to his head to sleep with me.”

The screen cut to the host smiling at the camera. “It seems our guests are getting a bit tricky. How will the eviction shake up the house? Why don’t we see how they are handling the stress?”

Her face appeared on the television in the living room of the house, and everyone gathered around it.

“Good evening contestants. Tonight, one of you will be leaving the house. What you don’t know is this year we’ve changed the rules. While the voting public does vote who to keep in the house, this year it will be up to you to choose between which one of the two bottom contestants, who leaves and who stays.”

“That’s interesting. Maybe Justin does have a chance now,” Blake said.

“This has always been Sunshine’s game to lose,” Drew said. Brian shook his head. He didn’t care for the friendship Justin seemed to have with the ex-football player. Because of how close Justin and Emmett are, the couple visited Justin several times in New York. Every time, he would take Justin and Emmett out to some exclusive restaurant and Justin would talk about it for weeks on the phone. If he took Justin out, he would just complain that Brian shouldn’t be spending that kind of money on him. Justin was maddening sometimes.

Justin worriedly rubbed his bad hand. It was comforting and reminded him of Brian doing it after a bad episode. He was so nervous about who would be going home. Going home first would be so embarrassing. That would mean everyone in the nation just didn’t like him. Brody came up behind him and put his arms around him, it felt good. Brody was a strange guy, but he liked him. He was sure before the end of his time there he would end up having sex with the man, and he knew Brian would approve. Even when they were together, they still had an open relationship. It was just smart because they lived so far from each other.

“Don’t be so nervous, people will love you,” Brody leaned down and whispered in his ear.

“Easy for you to say.”

Brody let go of him and stepped back. “No, it really isn’t.”

“I’m sure he’d take you back, everyone makes mistakes.” They were waiting for the host to come back and tell them the first two people staying in the house.

“I broke his heart. All I thought about what it could do for my career. A good recommendation by her and I could have gotten moved to lead detective. I was such a fool.”

Justin turned and pushed Brody down on the couch, then straddled his lap.

“I bet when he sees you on here looking all studly, he’ll come back running. Especially knowing how much you miss him.”

Justin could feel how much Brody liked having him on him. Justin wiggled a little more, earning a groan from the man under him.

“Not that I’m not enjoying this, but you told me just yesterday that when you got out of here you were going to get your boyfriend back.”

Justin grinned at him. “I am but trust me, Brian is more than alright with getting your needs met.”

“Really?”

“Yes, Brian is very sex positive.”

“Disgusting,” a familiar voice said from the other side of the room.

“Oh, I get it. You want to piss off your homophobe father,” Brody said.

“No, I want to blow your mind, but I refuse to change who I am because of him. A long time ago I chose not to live life in secret. If Dina and Cameron could be all over the magazines last year for their sexual antics in the house, why should we be any different?”

“You’re trouble.”

“He doesn’t know the half of it,” Brian said with a smile. Now that he knew Justin’s reasons, he could enjoy his boyfriend’s game. Because Daphne was right, he and Justin would get back together probably as soon as Justin was out of the house.

“Are you really alright with Justin and Brody?” Daphne asked.

“Why wouldn’t I be? I’ve been with men since he’s been in that place. Just because he’s on camera shouldn’t mean anything. In fact, I think it would be hot.” He was telling the truth; he would love to see Justin all hot and bothered on his screen. Maybe when he got out of there, he could convince him to make their own movie.

“OH MY GOD!” Emmett shouted.

Brian hadn’t been paying attention, so he missed what was happening. He looked at the camera just in time to see three huge men with black shirts saying security rushing in.

“What’s going on?” Brian asked.

Gus had started crying and Molly’s face was buried in her mother’s neck. On the screen all he could see was the security and hear yelling. After a moment, he finally saw what had happened. Why the hell couldn’t they have just brought Ian in?

On the ground with a bloody face was Justin. Brody was being held back by two of the security men, he was trying to get at Craig. Craig’s hands were bloody, and the last security guy was leading him away to a door that he knew meant automatic removal because it was a red door with exit over it.

“WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?” he demanded.

“Justin kissed Brody, not even on the lips but one the neck. His father ran at them and pulled Justin away. As soon as Justin was on the floor, he hit him repeatedly.”

On the screen two people in blue shirts labelled medics came and took Justin into a bedroom but no cameras showed what was happening in there.

“I can’t believe it. He’s hit him before, but I convinced myself it was because he was so shocked,” Jennifer said.

“He wasn’t shocked. That wasn’t why he hit Justin. He told me about that, he talked back to Craig. Told him that he was a man, and he could take it like a man. Justin was seventeen and stood up to his father, more than I ever did to my own.” His dad would have probably killed him but that’s neither here nor there.

“Dad isn’t going to be able to get back in there will he?” Molly asked.

“No, darling, I’m sure he’s on his way out and they are probably asking Justin now if he wants to press charges,” Jennifer said to her daughter, trying to sooth her.

“Maybe not. Depending on the law in the area the police can press charges. Because this is so public, I’m guessing Craig will be spending the night in jail,” Mel told them.

“Is Justin hurt?” Gus asked, tears running down his face. When Justin was basically sitting on the guy’s lap, Gus got worried that Brody would be his new dad. After promising that wasn’t happening, Justin was just playing around, they laughed. Justin had been such a part of Gus’s life that he just assumed anyone with him would be his dad too.

“I don’t know baby, but he’s going to be taken care of,” Lindsay said, rocking Gus back and forth.

The host came back on looking paler than before.

“There is never a quiet moment here. Because of tonight’s developments our eviction has been cancelled. Craig has left the show and will not be returning. We at Eye in the Sky disapprove of all violence and hate in any way. Don’t forget to check in with our 24/7 live stream on our website. For the next live show, join us on Monday. Goodnight everyone.”

“Wait, so we don’t even get to see how Justin is or what happens?” Hunter asked.

“Oh, Sunshine,” Debbie cried.

“He’ll be alright, love. He’s made of tougher stuff than that man knows,” Carl told her.

In the beginning Carl was uncomfortable around them all but he had adjusted well, and Debbie’s lost children became his too.