Chapter 8 - Spectre.
Brian and Justin were sitting at one of the large round tables that had been set up in the back of the ballroom. Brian was sipping at a scotch while Justin was digging into the plate he’d filled with every single food item offered on the elegant buffet table nearby. Brian was enjoying just watching the kid eat. He was always so enthusiastic about food and was willing to try pretty much anything. And the faces he sometimes made when he tasted something - both the look of rapturous joy when he found something yummy and the look of revulsion when he absolutely hated whatever it was, were equally amusing.
“Well, it looks like you found the food already, Justin,” Simone Dennison teased the boy as she came up from behind their chairs. “I do love to see a boy with a healthy appetite. Unlike some others I’ve seen tonight,” the motherly woman gave Brian a stern look indicating that she’d noticed he seemed to be drinking his dinner calories.
“Don’t worry, Simone. Justin’s eating enough for both of us tonight. In fact, if I don’t hold him back a little, you might not have enough for the rest of the guests by the time he’s done,” Brian chuckled at the same time he reached out to steal a carrot stick off the younger man’s plate, earning him a reprimanding look from Justin for daring to touch his food.
“Then I guess we should let him keep at it as there is plenty to go around,” Simone patted Justin’s shoulders approvingly. “But, while our young friend is so engaged, perhaps I can borrow you, Brian? You see, one of the benefits of being the mother of one of the grooms at a gay wedding is that you can commandeer all the beautiful young men to dance with you and they really don’t dare to tell you no! So, what do you say, handsome?”
“I would be honored, Simone,” Brian agreed readily and stood up. “I’ll be right back, Sunshine. And remember, you don’t have to eat EVERYTHING you see.” Brian kissed the top of the golden mop of hair before offering his hand to Simone and then escorting the lady out onto the dance floor.
Justin would have said something as the pair moved away, except his mouth was too full. Instead he just devoted even more of his attention to the plate in front of him. He thought that next he would try the two bacon wrapped concoctions. One of them had some weird looking soft brown pear shaped thing inside and the other was white round and flat looking on two sides. They looked kind of interesting and definitely something that he’d never had before - except for the bacon that is. Generally speaking, anything wrapped in bacon had to be good, right?
“Mind if we join you?” Justin looked up as a voice intruded upon his gustatory efforts. There was a group of about five men all approaching the table with their own plates. Justin, his mouth still full, merely nodded to let them know they were welcome to join him at the empty table. The man who’d spoken - Justin thought it was the other passenger from the car whose driver was so worried about that crazy cookware Brian had been discussing - took the seat right next to Justin’s. The rest of the group of men quickly assumed seats as well before everyone started in on their own food.
“So, do you like those stuffed figs and scallops?” the man sitting two places down asked, pointing at the bacon wrapped things that Justin had been tasting. “Marv’s mother loves them, so they turn up at every party she throws, but not many people are willing to try them.”
“These brown things are a bit squishy and there are these crunchy little bits in them, but it’s sweet and bacony tasting so I like that. The white things are kind of fishy tasting and a little gritty, like sand or something. But, overall, they’re not bad,” Justin gave his food review with a thoughtful smile.
“Hey, Marv! Allie! Join us,” the passenger man next to Justin waved over the two grooms who had just happened by with their own servings of food.
In short order, the grooms, along with the pots & kettles man who’d driven them earlier, had also pulled up chairs and joined the table full of hungry men. Everyone except for Justin seemed to know each other and they were all chatting and joking away. Justin felt a little out of his element. He looked around to see if Brian was anywhere nearby, but his boyfriend was still off dancing with Simone. Oh well, Justin would simply have to try and figure out these new people on his own.
“Hey, Marv. Isn’t that the same suit you wore to the Truman Gala a couple years ago?” one of the men sitting on Justin’s right asked as he pointed to Justin’s apparel. “I think you even had a tie about that color. I remember it because it matched your date’s eyes.” The speaker elbowed the groom in a joking fashion while giving Allistaire an amiable wink.
“I think you’re right, Chester.” Marv replied, giving Justin’s outfit another look. “You’re Justin, right?” he asked, addressing the blond directly. “You came with Brian Kinney. We haven’t been formally introduced yet, I’m Marvin.” The groom reached around and offered Justin his hand. “Now, tell us . . . that IS one of my old suits, isn’t it? I bet you my mother had something to do with that. She just loves to play dress up whenever she can corral a willing - or not so willing - victim. She’d still be dressing ME on a daily basis if I hadn’t moved out! Hah!”
“If you mean Simone, then yes. She did lend me this suit. She wasn’t very impressed with the suit that I’d brought and she told me you wouldn’t mind. Thank you for letting me borrow it.” Justin admitted, a little shyly.
“No problem. You can keep it if you want. I don’t think I even fit into it anymore, unfortunately.” Marv graciously offered. “Besides you probably look better in it than I ever did. Even that tie is the perfect color with those eyes of yours.”
“Thank you! That’s just what Simone said. And that’s also why I picked a matching color for my toes!” Justin immediately reached down and started to tug off the shoes and socks he was wearing so that he could finally show someone his beautiful, sparkly, blue toes. “See! I’m color coordinated all the way down to my toes!” Justin propped his left foot up on the edge of the table next to his plate of food so that everyone around could see the toes in question.
Justin’s actions raised a hooting round of laughter as the guys all pointed and laughed at the youth’s unfettered antics. At first Justin was happy that they all seemed to like his toenails. But then the laughter went on just a bit too long and the guys were all pointing at him and whispering between themselves as they laughed. He quickly realized that it wasn’t a genial, happy kind of laughter. There was an edge of cruelty to it. He thought about what Just Brian had told him that first night they met and he listened to his gut. His gut told him that these fellows were not just being friendly and laughing with him, they were laughing AT him. He promptly pulled his foot off the table and slouched down in his chair, tucking his once again bare feet underneath him and trying to make himself disappear.
“That was very cute, little one. You’re a hoot, but I wonder what Brian sees in you,” the passenger guy said, although his tone didn’t match his words and it made Justin feel like he was being insulted even though he couldn’t tell precisely how. “I wouldn’t think Kinney would go for the dumb blond type.”
“You’re implying there’s any type of guy Kinney wouldn’t fuck? I don’t think he gives a damn who, or what, he’s fucking. He probably didn’t even notice that Blondie here had a brain - albeit a simple one - all he sees is the cute face, hot ass, and nice package. You don’t think he actually talks to any of his fucks do you?” Injected the red-headed usher from his place across the table.
“That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?” Marvin remarked, looking at his friends and wondering where all the hostility was coming from - and noting at the same time that Allistaire was the only one not saying anything, just sitting quietly and looking a bit green. “We just met the guy last night. I can’t believe you’ve all taken such a dislike to him this fast.”
“You don’t know Kinney, Marv. He’s got a reputation - even here in Portland.” The usher said, backing up his statements. “From what I hear, he’s notorious all up and down the east coast as the biggest slut in the gay community. They claim he’ll say anything, do anything, fuck anything . . .”
Justin had been listening to this discussion and all the while growing more and more uncomfortable. He didn’t like the way all these men were talking about his Brian. He didn’t like that they seemed to talk about HIM as if he wasn’t even there. And he didn’t like the hatred that was emanating from most of the men at the table. Finally, feeling overwhelmed and not wanting to sit there and listen to any more, Justin obeyed his instincts and made a quick decision to leave. He pushed back his seat and started to stand. Before he could get away, though, Pot & Kettle Guy reacted by getting to his feet as well and grabbing Justin’s arm.
“Don’t listen to the guys, Justin. They don’t mean anything by it. It’s just the usual gossip, you know,” Pot & Kettle Guy said in a voice that was probably meant to be reassuring but which came off sounding demeaning to Justin’s ears. “Let’s go dance and I bet, by the time we get back, they’ll have moved on to cutting down some other schmuck.”
Justin had thought to protest, but before he knew it, Pots had him out on the dance floor with his arms around Justin’s waist. Justin had always been taught to be polite, which meant he couldn’t just walk away from this man even though he really didn’t feel like dancing with the Pots Man. He didn’t want to cause trouble for Brian by being insulting to another guest at Adam and Simone’s son’s wedding. He didn’t want to do anything that might ruin Brian’s big plan. And his mother had also told him you could catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, so he resolved himself to be nice, dance just one song with Pots and then try to get away quickly and smoothly.
They’d been dancing together quietly for some time - Justin mostly too busy trying to keep his barefeet out from under the other man’s bulky shoes to notice anything else - before Pots again started speaking. “So tell me, little one, how well do you know your ‘boyfriend’ exactly?” Chester, aka Mr. Pots & Kettle, hissed in Justin’s ear as he slowly led the blond youth around the dance floor. “I’m curious to know how you met. I mean, Brian Kinney is the last fag on earth I’d expect to show up at an event like this with a boyfriend in tow. I thought relationships gave him the hives or something. So tell me, how’d you meet? Did he pick you up in a bar? Maybe he took you home to his lair after fucking your brains out in some sleazy club’s backroom?”
Justin tried to pull away at this point, but Chester had a tight grip around the young man’s hips and just wouldn’t let him go. Both the man’s words as well as his tone were turning ugly and Justin didn’t want to listen to any more. His gut was screaming at him to get away from this man. The frightened youth looked around him but didn’t see any familiar faces. Justin had no idea where Brian had gone to but he didn’t see either his boyfriend or Simone out on the dance floor anymore. He really wanted to get away from Pots but he simply didn’t know how.
“Hey, don’t be in such a rush, Blondie. I’m just trying to figure out what it is that Kinney sees in you,” Chester cajoled, squeezing Justin even tighter against himself and reaching around with one hand to grab onto Justin’s rear. “I mean, yeah, you’re hot and all, but there’s got to be more or he wouldn’t be wasting his time on you. You must be one phenomenal fuck to have even got him going back for seconds - that’s pretty much unheard of for Kinney, you know. But even that wouldn’t be enough to hold Kinney’s attention for more than a nanosecond.” The hand on his backside was now kneading at Justin’s butt and the boy could feel the other man’s willy rubbing up against his stomach. “I’ve got half a mind to take you upstairs, strip you out of that monkey suit and then fuck you myself, just to find out what it is that has Kinney so enthralled with you. But then again, I’m not really into sloppy seconds - especially not Kinney’s seconds.”
“I . . . I don’t want to dance with you anymore . . .” Justin gasped, trying ineffectively to push against the rather burly man’s chest.
“Sure you do, Blondie. You’re gonna dance with me and tell me everything I need to know. Kinney sticks his dick in lots of guy’s asses, and I’m sure your’s is tighter than most, but I really just HAVE to know what is so special about you. What is it that is so fucking special about YOU that Kinney didn’t just throw you away like he did Allistaire or any of the thousands of other guys he’s fucked this year alone. So, Blondie, either you tell me now, or we go upstairs together and I’ll find out for myself.” Chester followed up that threat with a lick and a nip to Justin’s earlobe. “Would you like that, Blondie? You would, wouldn’t you? You’d probably love it if I shoved my hot, hard cock up your ass and gave you a good sound fucking.”
“L-L-Let me go . . . I . . . Sh-shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” Justin stammered, his voice panicky but barely audible over the loud music, right before he went limp in his dance partner’s arms, becoming dead weight. Chester, who hadn’t been expecting that response, let go of the boy and Justin slid to his knees, rocking back and forth and mumbling to be let go, all the while covering his ears with his hands.
Brian, who had been standing on the far side of the room talking with Simone and Adam, slowly became aware of a growing commotion coming from the other side of the reception hall. It seemed that most of the dancers were now just standing around a knot of people on the far edge of the dance floor. Brian could hear a growing wave of concerned whispers and then several of the onlookers began to look in the Dennisons’ direction. Adam, being one of the hosts, quickly excused himself in order to go sort out whatever was causing the uproar, and both Brian and Simone trailed along curiously in his wake. As soon as Adam had elbowed his way through the gaping crowd, allowing Brian to see through the throng, he discovered the cause of the disruption.
There was his little blond ray of Sunshine, huddled in a tiny ball of misery and panic on the edge of the dance area, moaning and rocking back and forth while that Asswipe from the White Party was looming over the kid. Justin’s hands were up in a defensive stance, trying to shield his head, and batting away any hands that reached out to touch him. Brian could see from the way that the boy’s shoulders were heaving that he was probably hyperventilating. And the way the people were pressing in around him certainly wasn’t helping matters any.
“Get away from him! Fucking stand back and let him breathe, damn it! Can’t you morons see he’s having a panic attack! Get the fuck back already!” Brian snarled as he pushed his way through the crowd. Crouching down beside the rocking figure, Brian gently placed his hands on the boy’s arms in order to sooth him, “It’s me, Justin. It’s Brian. I’m here. You’re okay. You’re okay. Just calm down. Shhhhh. Come on, Justin. It’s going to be okay. It’s going to be okay . . .”
It took several long minutes before Brian felt Justin’s trembling start to subside even a little bit. It didn’t help at all that numerous good samaritan types kept trying to help - their looming presence only serving to make Justin cringe a little more. But gradually Justin became calm enough that Brian’s worry turned to anger. He didn’t know what the hell happened to Justin to turn the usually happy and carefree boy into this quivering mess, but he was damn well going to find out.
“Does ANYONE want to tell me what the fuck happened here?” Brian demanded. When it seemed that no salient information would be forthcoming, Brian became even more irate. “Somebody better tell me what the fuck happened to my boyfriend in the next sixty seconds or I’m going to start channeling my abusive, drunken, Irish father and give you all something to really regret.”
“I don’t know what set the kid off, Kinney. All I know is that one minute Chester was dancing with him, looking pretty chummy, and then the next, your boy just collapsed.” Marvin stepped forward and offered that little tidbit of information, pointing out the guy that Brian recognized as their asshole driver from earlier. Now things were making a bit of sense.
“Ahh…. Now I think I understand what this is all about,” Brian nodded and moved so that he was standing chest to chest with Chester. “What the fuck did you say to him, Mr. Sour Grapes? Huh? You just couldn’t keep your mouth shut, could you? You’re just so damn jealous that I fucked your friend Allie instead of you at that White Party in Chicago that you had to go and take it out on a completely innocent kid like Justin. I always said there’s nothing like jealousy to turn a disgruntled fag into a vengeful queen.” Chester had been backing away from Brian this whole time, but eventually came up against the edge of a table and subsequently had nowhere else to retreat. “Well, fuck you! If you want to know the truth, the reason I DIDN’T fuck you is because you’re a TROLL and I DON’T do pity fucks!”
“Allistaire?” Marvin had unfortunately picked up on his brand-new husband’s name from the midst of Brian’s diatribe and was now gaping at his just wed groom. “Is this true? Did you let Kinney fuck you at a….. a White Party? When? And why the hell didn’t you tell me?”
“Oh, fuck it all!” Brian yelled, realizing too late exactly what he’d let slip in his anger at Chester. “Grow some balls, Allie-kins. If you’re going to fuck around on your fiance less than three months before your wedding, at least have the decency to tell HIM about it since all your friends apparently already knew. You really should know better than to trust a bunch of fags with a secret of that magnitude. What are you, mentally deficient? Of course he’s going to fucking find out, you idiot!”
“Fuck you, Kinney!” Marvin, who seemingly had forgotten his husband’s infidelity in favor of taking out his angst on Kinney, was now nose to nose with Brian and his posse of groomsmen and friends were standing right behind him.
“Stop it! All of you just stop!” an imperious voice interrupted the melee before Brian and Marvin could come to actual blows. Brian immediately turned to find the owner of that voice, Simone, kneeling on the floor next to Justin. “Marvin, you need to calm down. This isn’t the time or the place to be having this conversation,” Simone ordered in that voice that all mothers seem to have and which all children instinctively know means business. Next, though, she turned that voice on the other party to the incipient brawl. “Brian. I think it would be best if you take Justin, get yourselves calmed down, then get your things and leave. I’m sure there’s more going on here than meets the eye, but this is hardly the time to hash it out and right now, more than anything, Justin needs you to get him away from this crowd.”
Brian looked at Simone’s serious face and then over at the still shaking blond boy crouching next to her. She was right - Justin was just barely holding it together and looked like he was about to relapse into full out panic at any moment. This truly wasn’t the time to take on either Allie and his betrothed or Chester the Molester. He needed to get Justin out of here and somewhere the boy felt safe so that he could finally recover. With that in mind, Brian carefully bent down, collected his recovering boyfriend from Simone and gently lifted Justin up to his feet. “Thank you for your hospitality, Simone. We’ll be out of your hair as soon as possible.”
With the still trembling young man securely in his arms, Brian walked them both out of the reception and headed up the stairs while the eyes of all present followed their every step. Justin was still unsteady on his feet, but with Brian’s arm around him, the boy managed to stumble along. Brian took his time, not rushing Justin, and not giving a damn how long it took to get them to their room. Especially since all they were going to do was pack up and leave.
This trip certainly didn’t turn out the way Brian had hoped thanks to that asshole Chester.