Brian moaned in pain. “Oww… fuck, they don’t give you enough drugs in the hospital. My everything hurts.”

Justin, having been unconscious for the past three days, looked around the hospital room curiously. He had no idea what had happened. The last thing he remembered was dancing with Brian, feeling completely in love with the man.

Brian turned to Michael. “Hey Mikey, did you know that an unconscious person can sometimes hear what is being said around them?”

“Yeah, so... what about it?” the little man asked.

“I heard every nasty, cruel thing you said to Justin. I want you to get the fuck out of here. If I decide to speak to you again, I will call you. Until then, you are not welcome in our home or anywhere around us. Yes, I said our home. Justin is my partner and I love him, and that’s not going to change. What happened to me was in no way his fault. Right now you’re lucky I can’t get out of this bed, so I suggest you leave while you still can.”

Michael scowled. “How do you know he wasn’t lying when he told you whatever he wanted you to believe?”

Brian tried to sit up, but the pain in his abdomen wouldn’t allow him to. “And just when would he have told me anything? I just woke up. So, like I said, I heard everything you’ve said to Justin. Would you like me to repeat what I heard?”

“I was just trying to protect you, Brian,” Michael said, tearing up. “I love you, I’m your best friend.”

“No Michael, you’re not my ‘best friend’, nor are you any kind of a friend, and your kind of love isn’t worth shit! A best friend would have supported my boyfriend through this, and all you’ve done for the past three days was tell him how this was his fault and try to get rid of him. Now get the fuck out of here!” Brian yelled.

Michael left, muttering something under his breath. Brian and Justin didn’t care what else the little man had to say, since they only had eyes for each other.

“What the hell happened?” Justin asked.

“Ugh, car crash, surgery, coma…” Brian said, waving it away. “We don’t need to worry about any of that right now. All that matters is that we’re both okay. The fact that we’re back in our own bodies is the cherry on top.”

Justin smiled, his full Sunshine smile on display. “Did you tell me that you love me?”

Brian nodded. “I’m afraid I did.”

“I guess I was right: we needed to fall in love to switch back.”

“Yeah, you were right. I guess you’re smarter than I thought you were,” Brian answered, smirking.

Justin leaned down to kiss Brian, happy that they had made their wishes in the first place. If Brian hadn’t pissed off Mysterious Marilyn, they may never have met. They’d have to thank the old drag queen later.

“Say it again,” Justin requested.

“I love you,” Brian repeated.

“I love you, too.”

Six months later…

Brian fully recovered from his injuries sustained in the crash. He would always have a scar on his belly from the surgery, but it healed pretty well. It was a small price to pay for not being killed, he supposed. Justin always kissed the scar when he saw it. He spent the first few weeks after the crash apologizing for what Craig had done. Brian finally told Justin that he didn’t ever want him to apologize for it again because it wasn’t his fault.

Five days after Brian was released from the hospital, Ted and Emmett helped Justin move the rest of his things into the loft. Brian proudly labeled Justin his “partner” and referred him to everyone as such. It made Justin feel so grown up and loved.

Craig took a plea bargain and plead guilty to one count each of attempted murder and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. He was sentenced to serve fifteen years in state prison. Jennifer filed for divorce the day after Craig made his guilty plea. Brian was suing Craig for the damages he caused in the crash, along with lost income and pain and suffering. Jennifer offered to sell Taylor Electronics to settle the suit, but Craig was putting up a fight despite the fact that he could not run his business from a prison cell. The missus was confident that she would get control of the business in the divorce.

Brian offered to pay for Justin’s college or at least guarantee any loans he had to take out. Jennifer told him that it wouldn’t be necessary since she was turning over Justin’s college fund to him so that he would be able to attend whatever school he wanted. He was planning to attend the Pittsburgh Institute of Fine Arts in the fall.

As a result of Brian (via Justin while he was occupying his body) refusing to sign over his parental rights, Melanie and Lindsay filed a lawsuit for full custody of Gus. Brian fought back hard, hiring a very expensive family law attorney to challenge Melanie. Lindsay eventually balked, knowing that if Brian was no longer Gus’s legal parent, she would never see another penny from Brian. There was now a joint custody agreement in place, with Brian paying a fair amount of child support to Lindsay in exchange for getting Gus every other weekend and two full weeks per year. Melanie wasn’t happy with the arrangement since she had no rights over Gus, but she took it as punishment for being stupid and not pushing Lindsay to have Brian sign a donor agreement at the beginning. Brian was talking about getting a bigger place so Gus could have his own room.

Brian and Michael’s friendship was in a state of repair. Justin had taken a part-time job at the diner, resulting in him becoming very close with Debbie. Of course, she had to stick her nose in and practically force Michael to accept Justin as a member of their family. Michael had given up his quest to get rid of Justin, or at least he never publicly spoke a negative word about the blond. It certainly helped that Michael had recently met a hunky college professor at a comic book store who was occupying his attention. Michael loved Justin’s superhero drawing and had proposed the two of them creating a comic book together. Justin was thinking about it, purely for the artistic value of such a project. Brian appreciated Michael’s effort to get along with his partner and had a standing date with him for drinks at Woody’s every Monday evening.

Once he had been cleared by his doctor to drive again, Brian bought himself a brand new Jeep to replace the old one. Justin went to the DMV on his eighteenth birthday to renew his learner’s permit, so he was legally able to practice driving again. Justin had put more miles on the new Jeep over the past few months than Brian had, taking every opportunity he could to practice driving.

Justin was now ready to take his driving test, although he was very nervous. He was sitting with Brian in the Jeep outside of the license branch trying not to throw up on the steering wheel.

Brian looked over at the face of the man he loved. “This test is going to be a breeze, Sunshine. You’re so good at parallel parking now, you could do it while you jerked me off, if you wanted to.”

Justin chuckled. “Maybe, but I’m afraid that I’ll do something stupid and fail.”

Brian knew what would take his mind off the test. “Hey, as a little incentive, if you pass the test today, I’ll let you top for an entire week.”  

Justin’s face lit up. “Wow, you love my cock that much, huh?”

“It’s more like I really hate sitting around at the DMV, and I’d like to not have to do it again if you fail,” Brian claimed.

Brian sat with the other poor bastards in the DMV waiting area while Justin took his driving test. He faced the door and watched for Justin to walk in. He was very happy when he saw the biggest smile he’d ever seen walk through the door about a half hour later. The owner of the smile walked straight into Brian’s open arms.

“From the look on your face, I suppose I’ll be sitting on a pillow for a while,” Brian said into Justin’s ear.

Brian waited while Justin filled out the paperwork to get his license. The boy smiled for the camera, so pleased with himself for finally being a licensed driver. The picture turned out better than any license picture deserved to, in Brian’s opinion.

They got back into the Jeep once everything was taken care of, Brian happily letting Justin drive.

“So, do you want to get something to eat or go see a movie?” Brian asked his partner. “Maybe we can go by a few car dealerships and you can pick out your dream car.”

Justin silently shook his head at Brian’s suggestions.

Brian smiled, knowing exactly what the blond wanted to do. “Home?”

“Yes, right now,” Justin announced as he started the engine.

“You don‘t want to celebrate?”

“Oh, we’ll be celebrating. All... week... long,” Justin answered with a smile.