Justin wakes up to the sound of the alarm on his phone, briefly confused as to why it's even going off in the first place. Reaching over to turn it off, he considers going back to bed. It isn't until he is closing his eyes again that he realizes why he set the damn thing in the first place. Hunter and Molly and their storage unit. Right.

Is he obligated to help? Landlords tend to not help people move in. Justin is technically their landlord. He can call and claim he doesn't want the other tenants to get jealous or claim that he is practicing nepotism. It's a stupid idea as soon as he thinks of it. It isn't like there are many tenants in the building in the first place. There are only fourteen apartments total - four on each floor after the first floor until you reach his full level apartment on the fifth floor, plus the loft on the top floor in the back half of the building that he's converting into an in-home studio since it has great lighting and rooftop access. He plans on installing stairs up to it from the kitchen and installing a couple of sinks but otherwise mostly leaving it alone. Molly and Hunter have his old place - the two bedroom (potentially three if you convert the small office) apartment to the right on the second floor. Lenny and Roland live in one of the third floor apartments to the left, Danni and her daughter Myra live on the same side on the fourth while Juno lives behind her. Hailey and Selena live across from Molly and Hunter on the second while Freddie, Delilah, and their baby live in front of them. The rest of the apartments are currently empty and have been for the last six months, back when the previous landlord sent out letters stating that every tenant who renewed their lease from that point forward would have an increased rent. The numbers weren't affordable for over half the building. Justin is sure that Vincent had wanted all of the tenants out - either so that a small, empty building with a newly renovated first floor complete with a gym and basement level pool could sell for a better price or so he could renovate and re-market the apartments at a much higher rate. But when a few tenants said they were willing to pay the increased rent, Vincent asked Justin if he wanted the building instead. Justin had managed to talk him down from 12 million to 8 million, since the building had a bad reputation for multiple reasons, hence why no one wanted to buy. The extreme increase in rent caused previous tenants to talk shit on the place and there had always been whisperings - both between the tenants and online in general - of the building being haunted. Justin had seen a cabinet open once and then never witnessed anything again. So if there is a ghost, Justin doesn't find it all that threatening.

It had been a good chunk of money up front. Justin thinks it will be worth it in the scheme of things, although not in the same ways others would find this kind of purchase 'worth it'. He didn't try to get back the tenants who had already left, but he lowered the rent back to close to what it was for those who stayed, so he's not making as much there. He hasn't been in any rush to put the remaining units up online though. He wants to be careful, considering what happened with Molly. He wants to find people to fill them that he knows or at least people he has a feeling will be responsible and not just let anyone in. He definitely isn't hurting for money so he's not concerned about filling them quickly, but part of him doesn't like holding onto space that could be lived in but isn't being used.

It's good to have the building though, to secure appropriately for Molly's sake, to add amenities and renovations that Justin always wanted out of an apartment, and to have friends or family to be able to live in it if need be. He has been thinking about giving the apartment across from Molly to Mason and Ezra, extending another olive branch of sorts, especially after he got a message from him last night, asking about different neighborhoods and lines to live nearby so that he can visit Molly easily. It had been a reasonable question to ask to someone who has lived in the city for ten years, but they were questions he could have asked Molly, someone Mason is undeniably a LOT closer to. So part of Justin had thought that maybe, just maybe, Mason wanted to try to get to know him, especially with his dad - their dad - visiting and talking with Justin again. After he and Mason talked about the neighborhoods that were also along the G, J, M, Z, or L lines, Ezra did get brought up. Justin had tried to be subtle about it. He asked if he had any preferences or what kind of space they were looking for - a studio, a loft, a one bedroom, two bedroom, whatever. Mason had said that they wouldn't mind a two bedroom but only needed a one bedroom or a studio if it was more affordable. The conversation eventually led to Mason admitting that he and Ezra are together before quietly asking him to not say anything to Dad.

So yeah, Justin has been thinking about offering to rent one of the apartments to Mason and Ezra to continue building on that, as well as making sure Molly has more people around who care about her. As for the three bedroom apartment on the fourth floor, he thought about keeping it for whenever his mother and Tucker come in, maybe for Dad, Daphne, Molly's or Hunter's friends, or any visitors from Toronto. That way, they won't have to pay a lot for a hotel room (because God forbid Justin pay when his parents and Tucker come up) but they also won't invade their spaces. As for the other apartments? Justin would figure something out. He never EVER expected to be successful enough to buy a single apartment as an artist, let alone an entire gallery and a fourteen unit apartment building, all without any major financial worries attached. If anything, the guilt he occasionally feels from what Molly tends to refer to as 'disgusting wealth' stresses him out more than the responsibilities that comes from managing the investments themselves and as soon as Justin thinks that, he knows how fucking pompus and privileged that sounds.

Still, this landlord bullshit is stressing him out a little and nothing has even happened yet. He just fucking hates the process of moving. He hates even witnessing a moving process. Actually moving or helping someone else move is so much worse. He did enough of it when he first moved to New York and even before that when he was in and out of Brian's. He really isn't looking forward to today.

He can't really think of a way out of it though - other than hiring movers which Molly already vetoed when Hunter was about to do it - especially when Molly texts:

Made breakfast! Come downstairs. You can get ready after :)

It's probably the most sweetly worded text she's ever sent to him. Usually it would be something along the lines of: Get out of bed. I made food and it is getting cold >:(

She must be stressing about moving and unpacking everything too.

--------------------

"This better be good," Justin says to Molly as she sets a slice of spinach, bacon, and cheese quiche down in front of him.

Molly only gives him a subtle glare, "I am a good cook and you know it. You're just mad because you are up before noon."

Justin scoffs, "I am up before 8."

"So that we can all just get this over with," Molly answers just as Hunter is walking into the room.

"We aren't getting a ton of stuff from the unit anyway, so moving that stuff won't be that much work," Hunter says, sitting down next to Molly to take a bite of the breakfast quiche, "The real work will come in after we all go back out and shop for furniture and decor stuff. She pretends like she doesn't want to start fresh, but I saw the way her eyes lit up when I suggested shopping. Most of the work is going to be assembling furniture all day."

Justin looks at Hunter with disdain, "I would rather move your old stuff. It would make me hate you less than what you just proposed."

"Sorry," Molly says, shaking her head, "Hunter somehow became convinced that he is going to build me a library and a study in the office. And that we need decor that perfectly encompasses both of us. He's putting too much thought into it."

"I have a vision and you're not going to talk me out of it," Hunter says to the both of them.

"What are you going to do with your old stuff then?

"Sell it, donate it, give it to Mason and Ezra if they need anything once they move to New York," Hunter shrugs, before glancing at Molly, "We should take pictures today. Text them to see what they would like to have."

"They're probably going to not need much, other than a few necessities," Molly says, "Mason is in his last year of college and Ezra is graduating this month and went to Dartmouth all on scholarships. Their place is probably going to be pretty small. Unless Dad helps them out. But Dad doesn't know about them. I don't see Mason asking for or accepting much help because of that."

"Uh, about Mason," Justin says, rubbing the back of his neck, "He messaged me last night and-"

Molly holds up her hand, "Wait wait wait, Mason messaged you?"

Justin nods, "You know that I friend requested him and we talked a little bit after Thanksgiving."

"Yeah, but I didn't know it was a constant thing now," Molly says, scrutinizing him.

Justin rolls his eyes, "It's not. He reached out last night because he wanted to know if there were any safe and affordable areas close to the L and G lines so that he can get to you without any problems and see you easily."

"...Aw," Molly says, actually looking touched, "I didn't think he would want me near him."

"You are full of shit," Hunter says to her, "When we went up to see him in New Hampshire and stayed the night and he and Ezra were drunk, Mason kept talking about missing you and how the four of us should get an apartment in New York together so that we could finally live together and not be in a long distance relationship, all while Mason and Ezra could be gay as hell but not have your dad catch on."

"I would rather die," Molly snorts, "And he's going to catch on, especially if they are both ever drunk in front of him. They were way too handsy and grossly in love that night -"

"Well, now you know how I feel when I watch the two of you," Justin interrupts, which earns him a scoff from Molly but only drives Hunter to start looking conniving.

"They were so much worse," Molly insists and while Justin doubts that, he lets her be right.

"Well, I was thinking of them moving in here anyway," Justin says, moving on, "But unless you hate the thought of them being your neighbors as well, I thought about maybe renting out one of the one or two bedroom units out to them."

Molly waits a beat, studying Justin as if she is unsure of his intentions, all while Hunter and Justin study Molly for her reaction. Finally, Molly clears her throat, "...Wouldn't that be uncomfortable for you?"

Justin shakes his head, "No. Not really. The remaining units need to go to someone, right? I would rather it be to people we know we can trust."

Molly doesn't break eye contact, "Trust? Is this a Seth thing? The over the top camera and doorbell system and the new doormen aren't cutting it for you?"

Justin shrugs, "Pretty much. And I think he will be for it if he knows having more people we know around will help keep you safe. Does he know about what happened last week?"

"No," Molly says pointedly, "He freaked out enough when I told him about the underwear thing and the calls. He has finals and papers he needs to be on top of for the next couple of weeks. I'm not going to stress him out now or make him feel like he needs to drop everything, especially if he knows that Dad knows since he worries about what's been going on with him. I will tell him later if it is still relevant."

"If it is still-" Hunter starts out, annoyed, but Molly talks over him.

"Besides, like I said," Molly continues, "They can't afford to live here. You lowered the rent a lot since your old landlord tried to fuck everyone over, but it isn't the cheapest building due to the size the units and the amenities. Mason has a monthly housing grant that will help him until May but that only covers so much. He's only going to get a stipend from his work study to cover transportation costs and maybe groceries and a few bills. Ezra is probably going to need to pick up a temp job until he gets a role in something."

"I can work with them," Justin shrugs, "I can set up a contract and agree to take the housing grant until May so that they can save up, then go from there on their rent if they plan on staying in the city. Last night, Mason told me Ezra has a double BA in Theater and Communications. I have no issue hiring the guy as an Event Coordinator-"

"You don't even know Ezra-"

Justin shrugs at Molly's claim, "I've been working on creating that position at the gallery anyway, since Lola is taking the Talent Scout position. Besides, Hunter told me that Ezra essentially has Emmett's enthusiasm, Brian's charisma, and Debbie's balls. Sounds like the perfect fit, honestly."

"He would be a good fit for a job like that," Hunter agrees.

"Whatever," Molly sighs, "We'll be one big happy family. It will be great. And weird. Mainly weird. Mom, Dad, and Tucker will never stop visiting. Madison will probably come visit too. You can bond with your ex-stepmom!"

Justin rolls his eyes, "Now you are making it weird."

------------------------

The three of them squeeze into the front seat of one of the gallery trucks and drive it down to Hunter's and Molly's storage unit. As soon as Hunter gets the door open and the couple starts going back and forth on what they are definitely keeping, Justin holds back a groan and just goes to wait in the truck until he is needed. Justin waits longer than he's sure is necessary but eventually Molly and Hunter decide they are keeping his mattress but her headboard and frame, the lounge chair all of the kitchen plates, cookware, and utensils, some decor items, boxes of books, Molly's bookshelves, Hunter's dresser, and Hunter's TV and stand. Everything else, they are getting rid of, which Justin doesn't really care about except for the fact that it means that's all the more furniture he is going to have to build with Hunter and Molly.

They hold onto the truck and drive around the city. Justin takes them to IKEA, where they buy a few lamps and Molly insists on getting Katniss a cat house because 'she deserves it'. Then they go to Furnish Green as well as Design Within Reach, where they get a living room set, some picture frames, a rug, and throw pillows before going to Bed, Bath, and Beyond, where they get towels, a comforter set, and vases. Then Justin takes them to a furniture crafter he knows in Queens, where he buys them a solid oak coffee table and a dining room set. Hunter also begins buying pieces for the library room he desperately wants to design for Molly, then they head back to the gallery so that Molly and Hunter can buy a couple of paintings and Justin gives them some of his own work as a gift. They finish all of that by 2 pm. Hunter doesn't particularly need much help. The guy had dabbled in set design early on in his career and throughout college so he learned how to build things from scratch like it was nothing. This should be a piece of cake in comparison. But for some reason, when Molly is working on unpacking boxes in the kitchen and Hunter is putting together the desk he had Molly pick out, he calls out for Justin's help.

"I can help too, you know!" Molly says pointedly when Hunter pokes his head out, "If you are under the impression I am too delicate or some shit-"

"One, no I don't," Hunter interrupts as he begins to list as Justin makes his way over, "Two, before you say that I am lying because I didn't want you carrying the couch up, it wasn't because you are a woman. It's because of your shoulder."

"I re-injured it six months ago and it was better within a few weeks," Molly glares, "Haven't had any issues since."

"Liar. It was irritated a week ago," Hunter says, a dark look suddenly entering his eyes and Justin realizes that Hunter isn't close to getting over what happened to Molly, even if he seemed a little better after visiting his family. And Justin gets it. He does. He's thought of it pretty much every day too. But he doesn't like to think about it all of the time and he knows that neither Hunter or Molly do either.

"We just want to bond without your interference, Mollusk," Justin says, following Hunter into the room. He closes the door before Molly can respond.

They spend several minutes building the desk, mostly in silence. While it would be a two person job in most cases, Justin has a feeling that it usually wouldn't be for Hunter since Justin's part pretty much comes down to holding wood up and occasionally handing Hunter tools. For some reason, Hunter wants him in here. Justin isn't sure what else they can talk about...not unless something else happened, something Molly hadn't wanted to tell anyone else-

"So I want to get Molly a dog."

Pulled out of his thoughts, Justin looks up sharply to look at Hunter. Hunter is still working on the desk, tightening the legs into the base and not looking at Justin at all.

"Well, as long as you don't have a zoo, I don't care," Justin says, "I know she used to want one when she was a kid. Mom said it was because I was allergic but I got over pet allergies by the time I was 12. I just think she didn't want to deal with the hair. Molly briefly looked into it after Seth attacked her but she didn't want to risk a dog getting hurt. We tried to tell her a dog might protect her but she watched too many horror movies when she was a teenager, I guess. The dog always dies in those."

"I hate that trope," Hunter says, sighing, "It triggers me. If the dog dies in a script, I can't work on the movie."

Justin squints in confusion, "Huh. Even though you know it's fake?"

"Yeah," Hunter murmurs, then begins focusing on the next table leg, "I had a dog as a kid. Scout. She was great. Getting her was probably the only nice thing my mom ever did for me. My dad rolled into town. I pissed him off so he hit me. Scout bit him to protect me. She wasn't vicious and she was still pretty much a puppy. It's not like she did much damage. But it pissed him off so he dragged me and Scout to his friend's house that night. His friend had a dog fighting ring. He gave Scout to his friend so that he could use her as bait. He made me watch as she got torn apart."

"Jesus Christ..." Justin says, feeling sick to his stomach, "Fuck, Hunter. I'm so sorry."

"My dads don't know about that," Hunter admits, "No one does, except for Molly. And my bio parents, I guess, but it isn't like I talk to them or even know where James is...Anyway, I haven't wanted a dog since. Hell, I didn't want a pet at all but couldn't leave a feral, starving kitten behind a dumpster, especially when I had my sister in LA with me those couple of weeks, guilting me into rescuing her every time we passed her."

Justin glances over at Katniss, who is sitting in the recently built cat condo and watching them with bored eyes. She's come far.

"But you're wanting to get a dog anyway?"

Hunter shrugs, then gestures briefly towards the door, "For her? So I know she isn't home completely alone when I am working for up to sixteen hours a day in a little over a month? Yes."

Justin's gaze softens, "She's not going to be completely alone. I live in the same building and my gallery is just a couple of blocks away. And if I bring up my idea to Mason and Ezra and they say yes, she will have them too. Even if they say no, they will still be in the city. She will have people watching out for her-"

"She wasn't even alone when he broke in," Hunter interrupts harshly, "He fucking waited until Jerome had a night shift because he wasn't as threatened by Rubina. Molly fought him, sure, but if Rubina hadn't been there to help? I don't even want to know what would have happened. He even threw Rubina into the wall and still had the upper hand. Rubina teaches pole dancing. Do you know how much strength that shit takes? I watched Molly do it and it was fucking hot but it looked hard as shit."

"Noted, Hunter," Justin says, sighing at the reminder that his sister takes burlesque and pole dancing lessons as a hobby. Although, he can’t judge. He had been a go-go dancer. Meanwhile, Hunter gets back on track.

"Anyway, the only reason he fucking stopped was because he heard 911 on the phone," Hunter says, "I'm surprised he hasn't retaliated against Rubina for interfering yet. But I guess he wouldn't be able to get much dirt on her. She's an open book. She's open about being transgender and doesn't care who knows and Jerome doesn't seem to mind that people know that she's trans either. She owns her own dance studio so it isn't like she's going to get fired. Her students are all super loyal to her. He might fuck with her bank account but that's it."

Justin nods, studying Hunter, "Has he tried to fuck up your life yet?"

Hunter shakes his head, "No. That's what freaks me out. I don't know if he's done nothing to me because - in his sick mind - he thinks that Molly would never forgive him for it and his inexistent shot would be ruined. Maybe he's just trying to ruin her life in other ways. Maybe he's planning something bigger for me and just biding his time. But as of right now, he's never touched my accounts, called my bosses, or fucked with my car. I kind of wish he would. The anticipation of what he might do is aggravating and I would rather him mess with me than her."

"I think Molly would feel differently," Justin points out gently.

Hunter just shrugs, "Well, whatever. We might not agree on that front but we did agree on a dog, way back. I mean, we had the conversation back in June, but she did say okay when I said that we would get a dog when we finally moved to New York together."

Justin blinks, "I thought you surprised her with the New York proposal on Halloween, like out of the blue."

Hunter actually chuckles, "I asked her to move in with me at the end of May but she didn't want to be that far away from her family, especially with how your dad and grandpa are. Still are, I guess. So I asked if she would be down to move to New York instead and she said she would be. But all of my job offers were on the west coast or a completely different country. That Australia shoot made things hard. We didn't get to talk that much and shit was getting worse with that fucking...anyway, all of that caused problems and New York seemed like it wasn't going to happen any time soon. We had barely talked for a couple of weeks when I got that offer to be the head cinematographer for this new show and it's not some filler project either. It's going to be really fucking good and already has a pretty high budget. So yeah, she knew New York was eventually going to happen but her life was pretty shitty at that point and she didn't want to get her hopes up. I just caught her by surprise because I wanted to."

"By singing that cheesy song in front of over fifty people," Justin snorts as Hunter turns the desk over.

"You wanna know something? I hate that song. I don't know why, I just do," Hunter reveals, checking the sturdiness of the desk, "It came on the radio on our trip to Niagara and she didn't understand how I could hate one song so much without any reason but offered to change the station and I told her to keep it on if she liked it so much, that I would learn the words and when she heard me belt them out through a large crowd, that's when I would be proposing to her."

Justin shakes his head in amusement and scoffs out a laugh, "You mean to tell me that the reason my sister was so mortified when you belted that song through the loudspeakers was because she thought you were going to get down on one knee and ask for her hand in marriage?"

Hunter bites back a grin, "Well, I proposed something. Just not that."

"You're such a shit."

Hunter nods in agreement, then pulls out his phone, "Seriously though, I am thinking of getting her this dog. I'm already talking to the shelter and I already gave them money to hold him. They think he's a 9 week old Boxer Shepard. That's a cross between a German Shepherd and a Boxer. Preferably, I would rather take in an adult dog. But if I get an adult dog that's large and already trained to defend their owners, I'm afraid they're going to have a strong prey drive and hurt or kill my cat and Molly and I really don't need that kind of trauma. If I get an adult dog that's sweet and good with cats, it will probably be a lot harder to train them to protect Molly if Seth ever manages to break in here. So I want to shape this one into our ideal dog."

Hunter hands the phone over to Justin and even though he wasn't going to say no before, he definitely can't say no now.

"You surprising Molly with him?" Justin asks, forcing himself not to coo too much over the picture.

"He's in the process of getting fixed, so he should be good to pick up by tomorrow or Wednesday," Hunter says, "You think she'll get pissed if I surprise her? I already talked to dog trainers in the city willing to train him with us."

Justin thinks on it, "It's probably a bit soon, but you're right. If you want her to have a dog to help protect her, the sooner one gets trained, the better. Besides, you will be home for another month to spend time with it and she doesn't start school until September. In some ways, it's probably the best time to get a dog. Fucking surprise her. She needs some joy after what happened. Any frustration she has over you not telling her will vanish as soon as she holds him, I'm sure."

Hunter nods, "That's what I thought too."

By the time they finish building everything and eat their take out, Justin is exhausted and just wants to wind down. But he wants to get one thing settled first. Texting Mason about the offer might be weird though. He should probably call. He technically has his number.

He's going to call.

The phone rings three times. But just as Justin is wondering if people born after 1992 even bother answering their phone to actually talk anymore, Mason picks up.

"...Hello?"

The word sounds hesitant and awkward, like Mason either doesn't know who he's talking to or does know but doesn't know why. And Justin gets that, sort of. Right now, Mason probably thinks he is becoming increasingly clingy or there's some sort of an emergency so he just jumps straight to the point.

"Hey, it's Justin," he starts, feeling slightly nervous for no goddamn reason, "I was thinking about our conversation last night, about you wanting to live on the same subway line as Molly so you can see her often. I just bought this building recently and there are still several empty units. I would rather have someone I know I can trust living in one of them if you and Ezra want to skip the application process other places have and move into this building. Your choice though, no pressure."

The line is quiet for a moment before Mason clears his throat.

"You trust two guys in their early twenties - one of which you have only met a few times and the other of which you haven't met at all - with a rental property? "

Justin laughs at that, "Trusting you isn't about whether you keep the place spotless or if you have parties. I mean, try to be courteous and don't ruin the place but it isn't about that. It's uh...I just want Molly to have people around. The stuff that recently happened with Seth really concerned me -"

"Yeah, me too," Mason says, his voice getting hard, "She didn't leave shit out, did she? So that she won't stress me out because of my finals?"

Justin lets out a breath. Shit. The kid is more perceptive than he thought.

"She did, didn't she? What happened?"

"Something in Morgantown," Justin says vaguely, "She was with a friend so she's okay. Hunter flew back as soon as she told him and they're moved in now. I had a strong security system installed and hired doormen that need to go through a rigorous screening process. She's safe."

"From what I have heard, Seth can get around that kind of shit," Mason growls, "What the fuck did he-"

"Ask Molly after your finals. If this was the other way around, you wouldn't tell me either," Justin interrupts quickly to move on, "Right now, I just want to be sure I can trust any future tenants in the building, at least for now. We know what Seth looks like. We will know Molly's schedule. She will have people who care about her here and so will you, for that matter. It just...when I thought about it, it seemed like it would be like a good fit. And if I am being honest, I wouldn't mind getting to know you better."

The sentiment seems to both surprise Mason and deflate his anger, as it takes him several seconds to answer.

"You're just saying that because of Ezra," Mason finally mutters and Justin can't but help raise his eyebrows in disbelief, "Because I am with a guy. If I was with a girl-"

"I would still want you here because of Molly," Justin finishes, "Look, I'm not going to lie, Hunter let the Ezra thing slip to me on Thanksgiving because he wants us to get a little closer for Molly's sake. It obviously worked since I friended you. And I am sorry for never trying to reach out before that. It was because of Dad and how he used to be, at least when it came to me. It hurt that he adopted you when he was not even speaking to me unless I demanded it and it wasn't like I could bond with you when you were living with him. By the time you were in college, Molly mentioned to me that I could try and it just felt weird. Hell, this feels weird. But I don't want it to feel that way. Not when you love Molly as much as I do and you are as much of a brother to her as I am, which means-"

"I know what it means," Mason says, sighing, "I...I'm not against it. I'm not trying to be difficult because I am against any of it. I just need to talk to Ezra-"

"About bonding with your brother?" A voice in the background projects, "You're seriously trying to make it sound like I am against you bonding with your brother? I - an only child with no siblings at all and grew up alone - take great offense to that."

"You literally just walked in," Mason says to Ezra, "You have no idea what I am talking about."

"I heard enough," Ezra says simply before taking the phone.

"He would love to get to know you better," Ezra insists, "I have been telling him that you would make him feel more accepted and secure in - ow, babe, you are going to knock me off the bed! Anyway, I really appreciate you reaching out to him, even if he is grumpy. Don't mind him. He's lovely, I promise you, and he's just trying to stay cool."

"Oh, yeah?" Justin asks, honestly feeling relieved to be talking to someone whose tone is a lot lighter, "That's good to hear. Because I am offering him - both of you - an apartment in the same building I live in, the one Molly and Hunter live in too. If you want that."

"Um, yes," Ezra says, sounding shocked but immediately accepting, "We do. If we can afford it, which we probably can't. When I talked to Molly a few weeks ago, she said it was a nice building that she can't afford and she's pissed that Hunter is paying for most of it. Personally, if it were me? I would love to have a loaded boyfriend. I mean, I am sure I will eventually have one, with Mason's path to success and whatnot, but it's the waiting-"

"Give me back the phone!" Justin hears Mason groan but Ezra apparently ignores him.

"Anyway, money is going to be tight," Ezra says, moving on, "Especially in New York. We'll be lucky to get an ugly studio with bad plumbing."

"Yeah, about the money," Justin says, trying to figure out how to say this without coming off like he's thinking of them as charity cases, "I'm willing to work with your school on Mason's housing grant and let that cover the majority of the rent. And if you need a job, I have an open position as an event coordinator at the gallery. It isn't Broadway, but a lot of the work you can honestly do on your own time. It's mainly a lot of conception work and coming up with fresh ideas for things that might draw a crowd to the gallery. You'd be making connections with different performers in the city in order to secure entertainment for the events. You'd be making sure headline artists' requests are met for their showings, as well as relaying requests and info to my friend's company who covers the catering and decor. You might not stay that long if you get a big break, but I would be willing to start you out at around 55k a year."

There's a pause on the line and for a moment, Justin wonders if he over or undershot that salary. But before he can ask if Ezra wants to negotiate, Ezra speaks first.

"Fifty-five thousand dollars a year?" Ezra asks, "There are some big name companies that don't even have a starting rate that high for a position like that."

"I don't have that many employees," Justin says, "I have an art historian on staff who values the work we acquire and I just gave my previous intern the talent scout position. I have one curator, an intern, and three dealers. There are also two part-time employees who work weekends and four guys who handle shipments and transportation. Not to brag, but I make a shit ton of money even without the gallery and that place brings in a lot. I opened it so that I could give other artists exposure as well as give people positions in the industry and make sure they don't starve. I didn't open it for myself."

"Well, that's…" Ezra starts, then clears his throat, "I would still want to attend auditions. Even if I end up loving the job."

"I can understand that," Justin answers, "I wouldn't expect you to give up what you are passionate about. Like I said, you can do a lot of this work remotely if you want to. The only time you would be required to be at the gallery is during an event or for preparations. And if you get a small part in something and need a few days to work on your role, I would understand. If you get a bigger role and need to leave or go part-time, I would understand that too."

"Not many bosses would," Ezra says, laughing in disbelief, "I was happy about this offer but now I believe it's too good to be true. What's the catch?"

"Just…" Justin starts, rubbing his eyes tiredly, "Just try your best. Your degree is in Theater and Communications, right? That tells me you should be good in PR, theatrics, and bullshitting. And...be around for my sister. I don’t know how many times you’ve met, but she seems to really like you. Getting closer to her is not in the job description, obviously, but on the days you decide to work from home, just check in on her. Make sure she's feeling safe. My...broth...Mason too."

"Oh, you were so close," Ezra tsks before his voice sounds more distant, "Mason, are you cool with this? Are you going to be weird and stubborn or accept that this is the best place we are going to find?"

Justin can't hear what Mason says. He's not sure if he wants to because Justin is sure Mason feels as awkward as Justin does. But soon enough, Ezra's voice sounds clear again and it has a definitive answer.

"We accept," Ezra says, "We will reach out to the places we already talked to and tell them we found a place already. When do you want us to move in? Mason's grant starts in January."

"You can move in before that, if you want," Justin says, shrugging, "I won't make you pay if you move in before the first and I will lower the rent for January if you move in after. Don't worry about a deposit to hold it. You already have it. Save up a little and then we can talk about the deposit."

"We should have enough for a deposit," Ezra says, "But we might take you up on moving before the first. I've graduated and Mason is going to be done with the semester by Wednesday. So if we moved up there, Saturday the 19th-"

"The place will be ready for you," Justin finishes.

There's a pause, "Well, Mason isn't saying no. It will give us time to pack but not enough time to dwell on the assholes we are leaving behind. It will be a good excuse to skip Christmas too. I mean, Mason is invited to my parents' place. They adore him. But none of my family celebrates Christmas so there really isn't much of a point other than to see them and to celebrate my birthday, which is always lovely but the flight is an expense we can't afford right now with the move. However, I'm still some dirty little secret when it comes to Mason's parents. Kind of flattered by it, in some ways. But anyway, we'll be there first thing that morning."

"...I'm looking forward to seeing you both," Justin tells him. And honestly? Justin discovers that the statement isn't really even a lie.

------------------

Brian enters the elevator and takes it to the ground floor before walking through the front lobby and ending up on the busy sidewalk. Checking the time, he notices he's a little bit ahead of schedule despite the fact it had been jam packed with meetings and budget negotiations all day. Not that he has much of a schedule past work this week. With Eric and Lily out of town, Brian doesn't have all that much to do. He went and ate dinner at Park Plaza alone last night and that felt kind of pathetic, especially since he had chosen his daughter's favorite restaurant because the place immediately just makes Brian think of her. So after that, he had told himself that he would get stuff to make dinner the next few days and be productive or whatever. He should probably get better at being home without Eric, considering he's going to be a mostly stay at home dad in about a month and a half.

Jesus Christ.

Brian takes the train to Trader Joe's on Court Street and does his shopping there. He gets enough to have enough food through the weekend - chicken, rice, and a salad tonight, pasta and roasted vegetables tomorrow, and stuff to make a large pot of beef vegetable soup to last him until he can't eat anymore and freezes the rest - before catching a cab back to the house and heading to the kitchen to put the groceries away. He goes upstairs to get changed out of his suit and checks on the dumb(o) rats to make sure they have enough food before going back downstairs to get started on his own dinner. It's when he's washing his hands after cutting up raw chicken breast that the doorbell rings.

Frowning, Brian walks through the house and to the foyer. When he looks through the peephole and sees Justin standing there and one of the gallery trucks parked behind him on the street, Brian can't exactly explain what he feels. Relief, maybe? Hesitation? Both? Brian doesn't know. What he does know is that he's kind of bored and Justin can be a good distraction, even as a friend, so Brian opens the door.

"Hey," Justin says, stepping in when Brian steps aside, "Hope I'm not intruding. You mentioned that you were cool with me working on the mural while Eric and Lily are in DC. We had a shipment to make to one of your neighbors on the promenade. I figured I would just deliver it myself and see if you were good with me working up in the nursery."

Brian shrugs, gesturing his head towards the stairs, "All yours. How did those neighbors feel when one of the most successful breathing artists of the century was delivering his own work to their door?"

Justin snorts as he takes off his jacket, "It wasn't my work. It was a piece by one of my newer regulars. Tyson Conroy. Regardless, the wife did freak out when she saw me so I guess she recognized me."

"How could she not?" Brian smirks, "You want dinner? I just started. Not too late to make some for you too."

"Sure!" Justin says, already picking his bag up and walking up the steps, "If it's not too much trouble."

"In comparison to the other times you've inconvenienced me? This is nothing," Brian calls out, only to hear a humored 'Fuck you' and a door closing in response.

------------------------

Justin looks minorly annoyed when Brian disrupts his process to let him know that dinner is on that table. At first, Brian is sure it's because he broke Justin out of his focus, but Justin just shakes his head at that and says, "No, it isn't that. You just sounded a lot like a dad when you said it. It was weird."

"Well, fuck you too," Brian says, but finds himself biting back a smile anyway.

Dinner is relatively quiet at first, but it's comfortable. They eat it in the kitchen, not in the living room in front of the TV like they have in the past, and it's nice. It's nice to have a friend here who is willing to design his fucking nursery and it's nice not to be alone.

"So how many more days do you think you'll need to work on that room?" Brian asks, breaking the silence. Justin looks up and thinks on it for a moment before shrugging.

"Depends on how long you let me stay on the days I come in," Justin says, "But I figured, if you were okay with it, I would stay until 9 or 10 tonight, then maybe come in Thursday and Friday morning before you go to work and just binge it until I'm done. Unless you don't trust leaving me here by myself."

Brian gives him a look, "I trust you. Surprisingly. Even though you left my door unlocked and got my loft broken into."

Justin snorts, "That was almost fifteen years ago. I was naive. Believe me, after dealing with all of the security measures I installed and put in place with my building, I understand the importance and safety of locking everything up."

"Well, I'm glad," Brian says, "Hunter and Molly all settled in or are you helping them tomorrow instead of working for me?"

Justin rolls his eyes, "They're settled in. I have some meetings tomorrow evening. I would come by during the day but Arianna has an appointment in the morning so I want to be with her. I'm taking Molly with me so that she can geek out while Hunter goes and picks up some puppy he has on hold at BARC to surprise her."

"So they're getting a dog," Brian says in a drawling voice, "That's pretty serious. I wouldn't be surprised if they walked down the aisle soon. I definitely had less commitments with Eric before we did it."

Justin barks out a laugh, "Brian, you already had a fucking kid with him."

"That's nothing," Brian waves off.

"Uh huh," Justin says dubiously before his brow furrows, "Hey, do you think I should get a dog for the twins? Or maybe a little bit before they are born? I always wanted a pet to grow up with but my parents never wanted animals. I should give them what I couldn't have-"

"That's a dark path your mind is going down, Justin," Brian warns, watching Justin's thought process carefully.

"Or maybe a cat," Justin continues, brainstorming, "I like cats. The only bad thing about leaving Ethan was that I missed his cat-"

"Fuck Ian and his cat," Brian huffs, feeling a small pang of residual and inexplicable hurt at the words, "I bet the cat eventually left him too. I wouldn't want to belong to a guy who walked back into the closet and stayed there for the money."

"Okay, let's drop THAT subject," Justin says under his breath before meeting Brian's eyes again, "I don't know why you are so against pets though. You literally have two upstairs."

"Yeah, and they stay in a cage unless Lily gets them out, which is almost always," Brian says, "Still can't stand them."

"I call bullshit," Justin says, staring at Brian with a knowing look, "Remember back in September when we met for lunch and Jess called you saying that Bianca was breathing erratically and you literally ran out to rush him to the emergency vet? Bull. Shit. You love those rats. Brian Kinney loves rats soooo much-"

"Oh, please," Brian scoffs, "I wasn't going to let Lily come back home to one rat if I couldn't help it. It turned out to be a respiratory illness caused by a new brand of bedding. Never bought that shit again. Feeding the thing antibiotics with a syringe while my daughter cried and begged me not to hurt him was not fun."

"Well, I still think you like them, even if it is just a little bit," Justin says sitting back in his seat, "You like them because they make Lily happy and that's what I want to do for my sons-"

"Then borrow Hunter's and Molly's dog and give it back when you're done," Brian says pointedly, "Seriously. Just hold off, at least until they are a little older. You're going to have your hands full."

Justin is silent for a beat, then lets out a sigh and puts his head in his hands, "You're right. I just want to make sure they're happy."

Brian breathes out through his nose before reaching over to rub the back of Justin's neck, "They will be."

----------------------

Justin wakes up the next morning to his phone ringing and picks it up to answer it tiredly.

"You sound like I woke you from the dead," Molly says, "It's 8:45. How the fuck are you still this tired? I can't sleep past 6 most days."

"That sounds like a personal problem," Justin says seriously, "And I was working late last night. At Brian's and then in the studio. What's up?"

"The appointment is at 11, right?" Molly asks, "Get ready now so we can head over there and find brunch at a place nearby. I'm hungry and Hunter left to run errands without having the decency to even offer to make me food. He wouldn't even say what the errands were, just that they were important. That's usually code for an affair. I hope she's hot -"

"God, you're going to be insufferable today, I can already tell," Justin groans, sitting up, "If you're ready, go ahead and let yourself in. I'm going to take a shower."

Despite not feeling even ten percent as awake and perky as Molly Taylor seems to feel, Justin does use his time efficiently in the shower and is dressed and ready by the time 9:15 hits. He comes out of the bathroom to find Molly lounging across his chaise, staring at one of his larger pieces displayed on the upper half of the wall.

"You come up with an interpretation yet?" Justin asks as he comes to stand next to her, glancing up at the painting.

"My interpretation is…" Molly begins, "That your ceiling is ridiculously high. I thought ours was high. How are you going to clean that massive window, let alone the corners of the room for cobwebs?"

Justin stares down at her, bewildered, then just lets it go, "Are you ready or not?"

They take the M to the 23rd street station and find a small cafe to hang out at before it's time to walk the remaining block to the appointment. He lets Molly do the majority of the talking because honestly? Justin is a little nervous. Arianna hasn't met any of Justin's friends and family as of yet. It's not that he hasn't wanted to introduce her, but he hasn't had much of an opportunity. Arianna spent time with family in New Jersey for Thanksgiving so she hadn't been there for the announcement. The announcement itself was barely two weeks ago. Before that, only a few people knew. Saying it to each person had made it more real. Saying it to a big group of people took the fact that Justin has offspring developing in some woman's womb and grounded it into reality. It shouldn’t be a big deal - it’s not - but it feels that way, like some sort of monumental meeting. The whole time Justin is thinking it, he feels like he is being stupid and he tells himself that even as they walk to the doctor’s office.

However, Molly must be feeling some similar kind of way. Because as soon as she walks into the doctor’s office and sees Arianna, Molly’s eyes immediately dart down to stare at the bump that’s already showing.

“Oh my god, Jester,” Molly whispers, looking fucking emotional and Justin needs to stop her right now because Molly is very rarely a crier, at least in front of him. If she starts crying, Justin will definitely start crying. He needs to subtly redirect her so that she won’t.

“Cry and I’ll kick you out,” Justin warns. Good enough.

“I think it’s sweet,” Arianna grins, leading the way to three empty chairs, Molly and Justin sitting on either side of her, “You want to feel?”

Molly looks like she actually has to think about it before putting her hand on Arianna’s stomach. Molly holds it there for a moment before looking up to meet Justin’s eyes, “Yeah, I feel nothing.”

Justin laughs, “Like, you feel nothing emotionally towards my children or-”

“I can’t feel them kick,” Molly corrects, glaring at Justin’s insinuation.

“I’m only a little over 15 weeks,” Arianna says, “If they are anything like my son, then they should start within the next month though. I already promised your brother seven times I would call him as soon as I can feel more than a flutter.”

Even though Molly (and Justin, for that matter) can’t feel the twins move, they’re able to see them on the monitor as soon as Arianna is on the table and the wand is pressing against her stomach.

“I think if they come a few weeks before their due date, they should still be healthy,” the OBGYN says as she moves the wand around, “They’re both growing pretty quickly and seem to be the same size. Baby A is moving more than Baby B but Baby B is still moving at a normal rate. Obviously it would be nice to keep them in there until May 22nd, but don’t be surprised if they decide to come mid to late April. Hopefully not sooner than that though.”

“Let’s hope,” Justin says quietly because late May is honestly too soon, especially when their first OBGYN had told him the due date was June 1st. That first OBGYN was apparently terrible at math and unexpectedly left the practice and the one they have now is the one they have had since he found out he was having twins. However, June is still the month he has almost clung onto in desperation. He doesn’t know if he can handle becoming a dad in May, let alone April.

The possibility that the twins might come sooner doesn’t bother Molly though. If anything, it gets her more excited.

“They’re still so ugly,” Molly says in awe as if they are the most precious beings in existence when the OBGYN gives them one last look at the babies before the appointment is over. Just as Justin is starting to feel ridiculously offended, Molly gets into the development of their anatomy before getting past her nerd moment and turning to Justin.

“Have you chosen names yet?” she asks.

“Yep,” Justin answers as Arianna pulls down her shirt.

“Are you going to share with the class?” Molly presses.

“Nope,” Justin says, holding his hand out to help Arianna up. It earns him a huff. Fair enough.

“I’ll get it out of you eventually,” Molly says, following them out of the exam room. Even though he and Molly had both gotten food before the appointment, they both take Arianna out after. He always does. He may be paying her, but considering she is carrying two kids for him, it’s the least he can do. Besides, he gets a text from Hunter asking him to keep Molly out a little longer if possible. The paperwork took longer than expected and he’s still getting everything set up at the apartment. Hunter does send a video to him, one that Justin only dares to watch when he excuses himself to go to the bathroom. In it, the puppy is bouncing and tumbling over a toy that Hunter is tossing across the living room, only for the puppy to clumsily and happily bring it back wagging his tail.

Justin: He looks fucking vicious. All trespassers will run in the other direction!

Hunter: Don’t mock your nephew. He looks fucking smart. I’ve had him for less than an hour and I’ve already taught him to play fetch!

Justin: Are you ready for us to come back so that Molly can meet her son?

Hunter: OUR son, Justin. Our. Please acknowledge me as this dog’s father, just like I acknowledge Molly as Katniss’s new mother. Thank you.

Justin: Whatever

Justin usually rides with Arianna back to her apartment out of habit but gets her an Uber this time, only feeling slightly weird about having her go home alone. Soon, they make their way back to the M and walk the rest of the way back to their building, Molly spending the time chatting away and occasionally looking up new outfits and toys for the boys. When they get to the front of the building and into the foyer, they wave hello to Westley - who is sitting at the newly installed front desk - and check the mailboxes off to the right. Justin doesn’t have too much. Some letters from the property management company he just signed up for, an invitation that Yasmin, his new intern at the gallery, dropped off. It’s inviting him to headline a Paris gallery showing next spring. He’s going to have to decline, or at least tell him that he can’t be there in person. He can’t risk leaving that close to the due date, not with it being twins and not with the words ‘mid to late April’ echoing in his head. He knows the owner of this gallery pretty well though. He might explain the situation to him, see how he feels about setting up something more virtual.

“I got in.”

Justin glances up from his own letter and looks at Molly, who is standing there holding a piece of paper and a packet that says Columbia University on it.

“Of course you did,” Justin says, smiling a little, “We all knew that you would.”

“No, Justin, I got in,” Molly enunciates, “To Columbia.”

“Molly,” Justin says slowly, “You got into Columbia, Harvard, and Yale when you were 18 and refused to go because you didn’t want Dad’s money to pay for an Ivy League.”

“Ivy Leagues are overrated. They enforce a horrific class system,” Molly says to him, but then holds up another letter, “But I got approved for grants and a scholarship. I also got that essay scholarship I applied for, so I can apply that to whatever school I go to. Still waiting to hear back from NYU though. I think I might choose NYU if I get in there. Their medical research school is ranked a little higher and they’ll be easier to get to from here. But still, Justin. I got in.”

“You got in,” Justin confirms, before bringing her in for a tight hug. He only lets go when Molly feels like she’s practically vibrating with excitement.

“Westley!” Molly calls out, walking over to the front desk, “I got in!”

“Which one, kid? NYU or Columbia?” Westley drawls out, inexplicably knowing what Molly is talking about.

“Columbia,” Molly says to him, “Waiting to hear back from NYU.”

“Well, if they know what’s good for them, you’ll be hearing back any day now,” Westley says, only for the two of them to do some complex secret handshake.

“Why do you have a secret handshake with him?” Justin asks, looking between the two of them suspiciously, “You’ve known each other for two days.”

“And?” Molly asks, before perking right back up, “See you later, Westley!”

Justin follows Molly up the stairs and waits behind her as she digs for her keys to open the apartment door. Before she can get them out of her purse, Hunter opens the door, pulls Molly inside, and puts his hands over her eyes.

“What did you do?” Molly asks suspiciously as he leads her further into the apartment, Justin trailing behind because he honestly wants to meet the puppy (he’s always down to meet a puppy) plus he wants to see his sister’s reaction to it.

“I got you a present,” Hunter says, urging her to walk further.

“It better not be a new phone again,” Molly warns.

“Not until we get on a new plan,” Hunter promises, “It’s something better.”

“A secret laboratory?” Molly guesses, “A gift card to Anthropologie. A sex swing.”

Justin’s just going to ignore that.

“No, but I am making notes for Christmas,” Hunter tells her, finally arriving to the living room as he takes his hands off of Molly’s eyes, “It’s a-”

Before Hunter can say the word, the puppy pounces out from behind the chair and lets out a happy bark, as if he was in on the surprise the whole time. Maybe Hunter was right on the puppy being smart. Or at least easy to train. Although, Justin isn’t sure how Hunter could train a puppy to do something like that unless Hunter had been popping out from behind the chair and having the puppy copy him but that just puts a weird image in Justin’s head so he stops thinking about it.

“What…” Molly says, staring at the dog, “Hunter, really?”

Hunter walks over to the puppy and picks him up before going back over to Molly, “Hold him.”

“Mm-mmm, no. If I hold him, I’ll get attached to your rash decision,” Molly says, shaking her head.

“Do it,” Hunter insists, pressing the puppy against her, forcing Molly to embrace the puppy in her arms.

Molly looks down at the puppy and the puppy looks up at Molly adoringly, lifting his head up to lick her face once before settling back into her arms, “I love him. I love him more than I love either of you.”

“I figured you would,” Hunter says, grinning, “I already taught him fetch and sit. He’s a fast learner. He seems to love Katniss and she seems to tolerate him. Barely, but you know her. She likes you, me, JR, and Quinn and that’s about it so the fact that she stayed in the same room with him for as long as she did is saying something. I think he’ll be great. He’ll be a good dog with cats and kids but he’ll protect the apartment and you...us. It’ll be good.”

“No. Nuh-uh,” Molly says taking one step back with the puppy, “I will protect him. I will take a bullet for this dog, do you understand me? I will die for him.”

“Well, that backfired,” Justin snorts as Hunter shoots him an exasperated look.

“...We’ll talk about the training and stuff later,” Hunter ends up saying, reaching over to pet the dog behind the ears, “What do you want to name him?”

“Archimedes,” Molly answers instantly, which Justin can only laugh at while Hunter groans.

“Archimedes? Seriously?” Hunter asks incredulously, then sighs, “Can I at least call him Archie for short?”

“The ch sound isn’t in his name. Why would you call him Archie?” Molly asks, “Don’t be lazy and stubborn about a few extra syllables.”

“Let her win, she’s on a roll today,” Justin says, coming over to pet the puppy on the head, “She got into Columbia.”

“You got in?!” Hunter asks excitedly, putting his hands on her shoulders.

“Oh my god, I forgot. Yes! I did get in!” Molly says glancing up at both of them before looking back down at Archimedes. Apparently, neither he nor Hunter are worth more than that. The dog is pretty fucking cute though. Justin can’t blame her.

-----------------------------------------------------

Brian sits on the floor near the crib, nursing a beer as he watches Justin work on the last bit of the mural. He had come home from work and dinner was already ready - crockpots do come in handy and Brian really hates that a thought like that entered his mind. He had gotten Justin to take a break to eat dinner. But now? Justin is in the zone. Brian hasn’t seen him like this in years. That makes sense, he supposes. Justin still has the same passion as he works though. Fame and fortune didn’t take that away from him. But he’s also more confident in what his next steps are. The Justin who had stayed up late hovered over the desk at his loft had still been figuring things out. He wasn’t always sure what direction his art would go in. This Justin does. Brian doesn't interrupt him. He just watches Justin silently. Justin doesn't seem to mind or think it's weird. He barely seems to mind Brian is there at all.

It's 8:15 pm when the finishing touches are added to the nursery. Justin steps down from the ladder, looks at Brian for the first time in hours, then just says, "Well? Good enough?"

Brian brings himself to his feet and walks around the room. It truly is beautiful, fucking Sistine chapel level work - if the Sistine chapel focused more on fairy tales and nature, that is. There's so much fucking depth to the art too, small details hidden that Brian only catches on the third or fourth lap.

"It's fucking incredible," Brian can honestly say, then turns to meet Justin's eyes, "I'm serious. You outdid even my expectations."

"And how high were those?" Justin asks, eyebrows raised.

Brian snorts, "You know how high they were. I don't have to tell you."

Justin smiles a little at that, then looks down, "Well, I just need to get the supplies back to the truck. It won't take me long to-"

"Stay."

Justin looks back up at Brian in confusion and what might be trepidation, so Brian clarifies.

"Let's have a drink or two," he says, making his way out of the room before entering the hallway. Brian turns back around to watch Justin carefully, "If you want to."

Justin stares at Brian for a moment, then nods, "Okay."

------------------------------

They drink too much. Justin already knows that.

Brian opts to mix drinks at the bar in the sunroom and he makes them a little too strong. He makes them the way he used to before, back when it was just the two of them at the loft on nights when Babylon was shut down. On nights when it was blown up and they were desperate to spend every moment together. But neither of them have the tolerance they used to have. From what Justin's heard, Brian stopped with the consistent drinking after Lily was born, opting for a beer or one glass of Beam a few nights a week, never overdoing it and never getting more than buzzed unless it was a special occasion. Justin never drank as much as Brian did when they were together, but it has only dwindled since. Justin basically cut off all recreational drinking and drugs after finding out he was going to be a dad, only having a few slip ups since.

This is apparently one of them.

"You're going to fall," Brian warns, laughing when Justin stumbles over the chair only to fall right back next to Brian on the couch. He manages not to spill the new drinks though. It's probably the only thing to keep Brian from making fun of him too badly.

"I've not been this drunk since…" Justin starts, then trails off, because the night itself makes him sad.

"Sharing is caring, Sunshine," Brian says, taking the second drink from Justin's hand.

Justin shrugs and looks down at the drink. Brian must take his silence as an invitation to share his own experiences. If that's how Brian wants to take it, then Justin is okay with that.

"Well, I haven't been this drunk since my honeymoon," Brian tells him, "Eric was a lot worse though. He fell into the pool."

"Did you swoop in and save him?" Justin asks, turning his head to watch Brian.

Brian nods, "It's my job."

Justin smiles, but it doesn't feel all that happy. He's happy for Brian but he wants to be happy for himself. It's a stupid thought because he is happy for himself. He's happy about becoming a dad and he's happy that his sister and Hunter live in the same building. He's happy that he's successful and has more money than he knows what to do with. There are a lot of fucking ways to be happy and Justin has several selling points when it comes to his life-

"Your turn," Brian says suddenly, turning in his seat to look at Justin. Justin lets out a breath and maintains eye contact.

"That party I went to in August, one of my mutual friends that I have with Nathan. Got so drunk - a lot drunker than I am now - that he took me home. Swooped in and saved me, I guess," Justin says, before downing his drink, "You want another?"

"Why not? I don't have to be at work tomorrow," Brian says as Justin walks back over to the bar, "How is Nathan doing? Eric met with him for lunch about a week before Thanksgiving but I haven't seen him in a while."

Justin shrugs, "Doing well, from what I've heard. I met with him a few weeks ago too. He just finished up the stint on the show and there are record companies that want to sign with the band already. You did him a favor."

"Good for them," Brian says, reaching out to take his drink when Justin hands it to him, "He have a new guy yet?"

"Not that I know of," Justin mumbles, sitting back down.

"...New girl?" Brian guesses again and Justin gives him a strange look.

"He…" Justin starts, then shakes his head, "Again, not that I know of."

Brian shrugs, "Okay. Eric said he thinks Nathan is more attracted to 'close connections and peoples' souls' than genders. Something along those lines. I don't know, I was too busy trying to tune him out. But I did catch him telling me that he has a feeling there's something going on between Nathan and Petra. Wasn't sure though."

Justin sputters at the insinuation, "Nathan and Petra?"

"I don't know," Brian murmurs, taking a sip of his drink.

Justin thinks on it. He thinks really fucking hard on it. Harder than he has any right to think of someone who has been his ex for over seven months. Petra was always super supportive of them. It would be weird if Nathan and Petra got together. And Nathan said he was gay when he was asked, but did mention to Justin way back that he loved a girl that he hung out with when he was 15…

No. Nah. Brian's full of shit.

"I want whatever's best for him," Justin can say honestly, "He deserves it. To be happy. I'll always love him. Most of my exes can rot, but I mean that. He's one of two."

As soon as the words are out of his mouth, Justin regrets it and closes his eyes, hoping Brian just moved past it, ignores Justin's dumb statement. He can feel Brian's eyes on him though and he doesn't like it. Justin needs to move on, even if Brian won't-

"Eric's one of two too."

Justin feels his heart beat faster and he clenches his right hand, suddenly shaking and cramping from the strain he's put on it for the last two days. He tries to just wait the moment out - will it to pass - but then he feels Brian's hands pick up his right one and gently massage it with his fingers.

"Your hand hurt?" Brian asks gently, touching Justin's hand so fucking tenderly, something Justin hasn't felt since Nathan left. Although to be honest, it's something Justin hasn't felt in years. He hasn't felt Brian's fingers touch him, not like this, not for a long time. He's missed it.

And he hates it. It's too much. Too much shit has been pushed under the rug. He can't handle this.

"Why didn't you cash the check?" Justin asks, opening his eyes to finally look at Brian again. But Brian doesn't look at him. His jaw tenses and the fingers massaging Justin's hand briefly still, but Brian continues after a few seconds, acting like Justin didn't ask anything at all.

"Brian, why didn't you cash my check?"

Brian lets out a huff but keeps on massaging, "Just drop it, Justin."

But Justin can't drop it this time. He could the last time he brought it up because it made Brian frustrated and upset. But Justin doesn't care this time around. There's too much alcohol and the air is too thick. He needs to get this shit over with. He wants to be Brian's friend and he thought he could be even if the check just stayed in the past but right now, Justin realizes that he can't leave it there because it's not going to fucking stau. It's one of the only things holding them back and it's the one thing Justin has any control of that won't let their previous relationship officially close.

"No," Justin says, pulling his hand away quickly to stand up, "I need to fucking know why. I promised you I would pay it. You knew how important it was to me to pay you back for that and you refused to cash it or answer my letter. You gave me everything but you gave me no fucking respect by just ripping it up or whatever you did with it!"

Brian shakes his head, stands up and begins to walk away, "You're drunk."

"So are you!"

Justin follows him into the kitchen, where Brian is grabbing two water bottles. He throws one at Justin but Justin lets it fall to the ground.

"Do you want to take the mural as a payment?" Justin presses, "I wasn't going to charge as much as that check was worth, but we can call it almost even and I'll babysit your kids or do some freelance stuff for Kinnetik if you really can't take my money-"

"Eric's paying for the mural, his idea," Brian mutters, putting his own water back to grab a beer and take a swig from it instead, "He won't let you refuse his money."

"Oh, like you did mine?" Justin asks, then tries to take a calming breath, "I need to pay you back. Or I at least need to know why you didn't cash it. Now, please-"

"Because I didn't want to!"

"That's not a good enough answer! You were with Eric when I sent that check to you! Lily was just born! We were broken up when you got that check and that letter-"

"I didn't want to be!"

Justin stops his rant and stares at Brian, who no longer looks mad. He just looks broken and like he's desperate for this conversation to end.

"Brian, what are you saying-"

"I never wanted to break up with you," Brian says before letting out a shaky breath, "I never wanted us to be over. I know I'm the one who threw you out when you came in but you didn't fucking understand what I wanted and no one fucking understood that I changed and I get why but you were supposed to get me and you acted like I was just traumatized from that fucking bomb!'

Justin shakes his head, "I know that now. But we were all traumatized from that bomb. It happened and you were so different. You were never the same after that, even after you pushed me to come here, even now. You changed and I was confused. About you and about being in a new place and about what I was and wasn't ready for."

"Well, I was ready," Brian sniffles but then lets out a humorless laugh, "You acted like you were ready for me to get my shit together for years and once I did, you didn't want me anymore."

"I wanted you," Justin says desperately, "I always wanted you, ever since you first took me back to the loft. I just figured out I wasn't ready for what you were wanting right then. And honestly? I'm glad I wasn't. I mean, I fucking missed you and you broke my heart as much as I broke yours. I regretted it for years. But I am really fucking glad that I wasn't ready and things ended when they did."

Justin feels another spike of courage then, just enough to have him walk closer to Brian and hesitantly put his hand on his shoulder. Brian flinches in response and looks away but Justin doesn't look away from him.

"You are really lucky," Justin rasps out, then clears his throat to make his voice stronger, "You have fantastic kids, you have another baby on the way, you made it big and are the best ad man on the planet, and you have the best husband you could ask for. Eric's probably better than anyone deserves and you got him and the love you have for each other? I want that someday. With someone. I...I want to be friends with you. Close friends. But there's been this space between us, not letting our past fully stay there. I don't know if it is the check or it's something harder to fix but I think we should uh...we should start there. With me paying you back. I don't ever want to cause problems with you and Eric. And I don't know. Maybe it hasn't happened yet, but I am scared that if this doesn't get fully resolved, then those problems could happen. And I would hate it if it did. And you would hate yourself."

Justin takes a step back then, rubs at his eyes, and feels more resolved.

"I'm gonna go," Justin says, grabbing his supplies bag off the counter, "I uh...I didn't bring that up to get you upset or worked up. I just...I just want that chapter to close. Start a new book with you, I guess. Sounds stupid, but...Maybe I can call you tomorrow or in a couple of days."

Brian barely nods, still not quite looking at Justin as he says, "You good to drive?"

Justin huffs out a teary laugh, "Probably not 100% but no one really drives in Brooklyn anyway. I'll go slow."

With that, Justin leaves the kitchen and walks towards the living room. It's when Justin is opening the front door that he hears Brian's voice. It isn't directed at him, but at someone. The words are hitched and uneven and he can't stand the thought that he made Brian cry. It makes him want to go back in and make sure he's going to be okay. But when Justin hears Brian choke out, "Can you come home?" he knows that he doesn't need to.