Chapter 7 - Crazy Happy Day's Disastrous End.

After five roller coasters, two water rides and one 'Adventure' ride - my favorite since it was dark the whole way and I get to spend it making out with Justin - even the teens are worn out enough to take a break. We've just ordered some food and we're sitting on a shady picnic bench waiting for the hot Latino server to bring our meals.

I'm busy trying to fondle Sunshine under the table while he keeps squirming away - complaining, 'Brian, stop', in a hushed voice. So far the breeders who frequent this place seem to be ignoring our out and proud homo displays, but I can tell it's making the boy a bit nervous. Daphne seems amused by the interplay between us - laughing hysterically every time I steal a kiss when Sunshine's guard is down. His friend's laughter seems to just annoy him more. This annoying of the boy and entertaining of Daphne is fun, so I just keep it up no matter how much Justin keeps protesting. Michael sits there scowling at me in disapproval but knows better than to say anything.

I indulge my crazy fun self with a greasy burger, fries AND a milkshake today - who knows, you just might get hit by the #22 bus later, so why worry about carbs? Mikey is watching me like he's worried I've been replaced by a pod person. Poor Mikey, he's never been very open to change and my behavior today is really challenging him. But since it's good for him to stretch himself like this, I'm glad I'm able to help. Maybe I should be a little more concerned though with how far I'm pushing Michael - he's looking a little on edge.

Daphne decides she wants an elephant ear doughnut for dessert and I offer to go with her to find this exotic delicacy. When we return, I overhear Mikey giving Sunshine his version of 'Kinney 101'. What he doesn't understand is that those directions don't apply anymore - I'm not sure they ever did where Justin was concerned.  

"I'm just saying, Brian doesn't DO relationships. He doesn't DO boyfriends. Fuck, he doesn't even do repeats," Michael explains how he sees things, however warped his perspective might be. "You seem like a nice kid, so I'm just trying to give you a heads up, you know. Don't expect too much from Brian. He's had you, and this little outing aside, don't expect that you're going to get more out of this than you already have."

"Bullshit, Mikey!" I interrupt as I straddle the picnic bench behind Justin, snaking my arms around the boy's slender waist. "I DO whatever the fuck I want to, who I want to and whenever I want to. And, that definitely includes doing Sunshine here. So shut your trap, Mikey, and don't try to scare the boy off."

"Fuck, Brian. What the hell has gotten into you today. This is just not like you," Mikey voices his confusion.

"Nothing's 'gotten into me' today, Mikey. At least not yet. Care to help me out with this little oversight, Sunshine?" I ask, waggling my eyebrows at the boy provocatively as I extend my hand to help him off the bench.  

"I'd love to help you, Brian," my brave little blond says assertively, accepting my hand and letting me lead him towards the closest men's room.

I pat Mikey on the shoulder as we walk past to reassure him that the world isn't going to end just because his idol has publicly stated an inclination to let a cute little blond twink top him. Poor man is still sitting there with his mouth hanging open when we return about fifteen minutes later. The look of horror on his face is almost too comical, but I stop myself from laughing because I don't want to hurt him that much - stretching Mikey's boundaries is one thing but I don't want to permanently traumatize him.

"Better shut your mouth, Mikey, or you'll start to catch flies," I say, repeating one of Debbie's catch phrases.

Justin has the perfect 'Kinney-esque' smirk on his beautiful lips as he sits down next to Daphne and retrieves his now lukewarm soda.

"Justin" Daphne whispers at him, "you didn't . . . ?"

"Oh, yes he did. And quite well, I might add, if my sore ass is any proof," I respond on Justin's behalf, kissing the chuckling blond as I sit next to him.

"What the fuck is going on, Brian?" Michael finally blows his top, standing up and yelling into my face. "This isn't like you at all. Tell me what the fuck is going on right now or I'm calling Ma and you can bet she'll get to the bottom of this shit pretty damn fast."

I try really hard, I do, but I just can't stop myself from laughing at poor Mikey's outburst.

"Michael, listen to me. Are you listening?" I demand his attention.

"Yeah, I'm listening, Brian, but this better be good."

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with me other than that I decided I want to have fun today. I am allowed to have fun once in awhile, aren't I? I want to do things I've never done before. I want to have fun. You and I both know I didn't get to have much of it as a kid. So I'm doing it now. Now, sit down and stop acting crazier than me. I hate being upstaged."

Even though he occasionally continues his fish out of water, gaping mouth routine every so often, this appears to shut Mikey up for the rest of the afternoon while Justin, Daphne and I have more crazy fun and ride more rides. I even do the macho man thing and manage to win a stuffed elephant for Daphne at one of the carney booths. We finally struggle out of the park around 3:00 pm so I can get my delinquent teens home at about the same time they would arrive after a normal school day. We're all exhausted, sunburned, stuffed with junk food and laughing our asses off as we load into the Jeep for the ride home. Even Mikey seems to have enjoyed himself a little once he stopped worrying about me being crazier than usual.  

I can honestly say that I haven't ever had a day this fun in all my 30 (or is it 37 now after redoing all those years?) years of life.  

Too bad it doesn't last.

We drop Mikey off first since he says he has no interest in visiting suburbia again today. Then I take Daphne to her house - dropping her off around the corner so as not to alert the parents to our school-free escapade. I've definitely won that girl over - she kisses my cheek as she jumps out of the car and gushes at me with thanks for a good five minutes before Justin makes fun of her enough that she finally leaves, walking around the corner and waving to us as she goes.  

Next stop, Taylorville - although I would have loved to find an excuse to keep Justin with me for the rest of the night, I didn't want to push him. I drive the Jeep to the end of his block and park. I pull him towards me for one last, deep kiss - his lips taste like ketchup from the last batch of fries we shared at the park. I love kissing these pouty, full, delicious lips. If I never had to release my possession of those lips, I would be blissfully happy. Understandably, the kissing goes on for quite a while and both of us are oblivious to what's going on around us in the meantime.  

We are interrupted though, long before I would have chosen to stop my attentions to those wondrous lips.  

"Justin. Get the fuck out of that car right this instant! And you - you fucking pervert, get your god damned hands off my son!" I hear the words being screamed at me, the all too familiar tones of Craig Taylor's voice grating on my eardrums. "Justin! Let's go! NOW!"

"Shit," Justin mumbles under his breath as he disentangles himself from me and tumbles out of the Jeep, standing sheepishly at his father's side and looking at me apologetically.

"Get the fuck home, Justin. I'll talk to you when I'm done here." Craig orders.

"Sorry, Brian," Justin apologizes as he beats a hasty retreat down the block towards his house. "I'll call you later."

"The fuck you will. You'll be grounded till you're 30 if I have anything to say about it, young man," Craig expostulates. "Just get the hell home and I'll talk to you in a minute."

I'm caught off guard here, unfortunately, since this particular situation hasn't come up before in any of the prior permutations of this year.  As such, reacting a little slowly, I don't do anything in response to Craig's verbal attack until Justin's already halfway down the block. I'm still not sure how Craig found out about us this time around. All I know is that, once again, I've set my poor boy up for a world of trouble with his homophobic prick of a father.  

Shit, why can't I get this right. I don't want Justin to have to deal with Craig yet. All I wanted was to have a fun, carefree day with my lover and somehow, without even knowing how, I've fucked up again. Damn you, Craig. Why can't you just let your son be happy for one lousy day.

Once Justin is out of sight in his house, Craig turns to me with venom dripping from his words.  

"I don't know who the fuck you are, you pervert. But, I'm warning you now, you stay the fuck away from my son. If I so much as hear that you've been anywhere near him ever again, you'll fucking regret it. Do you hear me?" Craig is spitting his hateful words into my face, his angry, ugly lopsided mouth only inches from mine.

"Back the fuck away from me, Craig," I hiss. "You have no idea who the fuck you're dealing with. I love Justin and I'm not about to give him up for the likes of your puny, pathetic, homophobic ass. Do your worst, you little slug. I'm not going to take orders from you and as long as Justin wants to be with me, your opinion on the matter means diddly squat."

I start the car and shift into drive, not waiting for Craig's predictably offended response. I just wish I could storm into that house and pull Justin out with me. The only thing stopping me is the realization that I have to let him make his own way in life or he'll hate me for it in the end. But that doesn't mean that I don't detest Craig even more than before for forcing this confrontation.

I'm not more than five blocks away before my cell starts ringing. I quickly pull over so I can safely answer the call, thinking that it has to be Justin calling to explain what the hell happened. But it's not him - it's Daphne.

"Oh thank God, Brian. I'm so glad I got the right number. Justin only had time to call me briefly before they took his phone away. I could hear them yelling at him in the background as he talked and then the line went dead. Before they took his phone, though, he told me to call you and explain,” the words are tumbling out of Daphne almost faster than I can understand. “It’s all my fault, I’m afraid. My mom came to school today to bring a book I forgot that she thought I would need and found out I wasn’t there. And of course she called Justin’s mother - it’s kind of a given that when one of us is up to trouble the other one isn’t far behind. Well, it wouldn’t have been so bad if it was just Mrs. Taylor - she’s pretty much okay, you know - but she called Justin’s dad, who’s a royal pain in the ass almost all the time. Shit, Justin’s going to be grounded for, like, the rest of his natural life after this.”

“Stop, Daphne,” I interrupt. “Take a breath. I don’t know how you manage to talk so much on so little oxygen. By the way - it’s worse than you know - when Craig found Justin he was sort of wrapped in my arms being pretty much tongue fucked. I don’t think Craig was all that happy to find out his son was gay in that particular fashion.”

“OH SHIT! Poor Justin.” Daphne sounded like she was about to cry on the other end of the phone line.

“Oh shit is right. Daphne, you have to do me a favor. Please, find out how Justin is and let me know, okay. I didn’t mean to get him outed like that. I know Craig is a shithead and can get violent sometimes. Can you let Justin know that  . . .  Well, if he needs anything or if Craig gets too out of control, just let me know.”

“I will, Brian. Sorry about all this. Anyway, I’m grounded too so I better get off the phone before my parents take mine away too. Don’t worry though. I’ll make sure Justin is okay. Bye, Brian.”

All I can do now is drive back to the loft and wait to hear from Daphne or Justin. Fuck. I just wish there was something I could do. Sitting here waiting is a bitch. I know that Craig isn't as bad as Jack used to be, but that doesn't mean the fucker won't hit Justin - I've seen him do it before. Half a dozen times I reach for my keys, ready to rush back to the Taylor house and rescue my poor little twink - the only thing stopping me is my fear of making things even worse.

I turn in the end to my old pal, Jim Beam, who gives me what comfort he can as I slowly get shit faced and eventually pass out.

The incessant hammering on the inside of my skull eventually wakes me up in the morning. After a couple minutes though I realize that the hammering I'm hearing isn't just in my head - some of it is happening on my door as well. I manage to roll off the couch, where I apparently slept last night, and unkink my back sufficiently to stand. Then I stumble to the door.  

"Thank god, you're home, Brian," Sunshine declares as he launches himself into my arms before the door is opened more than two feet. "I'm so sorry about all that shit with my dad. Daph did call you and explain what happened, right? Shit, I'm so fucked, Brian."

"Calm down, Justin. Come in and let me look at you," I say, pulling him into the loft, closing the door and scanning his face to fully assess the damage. "That fucker, Craig. Look what he fucking did to your face. Are you okay, Sunshine?"

Justin's lip is split and he's going to have a hellish bruise on the left side of his jaw, but his injuries don't seem to have dimmed the firery glint of defiance in his eyes. I adore that unquenchable spirit of his. Nothing deters Justin for long - I'm living proof of that.

"I'm fine, Brian," Justin says, swatting my hands away as I try to get a better look at his swelling jaw. "It doesn't hurt that bad. My asshole father thought he could beat the gay out of me. But I told him that no matter how much he hit me, I was still going to be his queer son. That didn't exactly shut him up, but he quit trying to hit me at least."

"I feel like shit about this, Sunshine. I didn't think our day playing hooky was going to cause such an uproar. Shit. Let me get you some ice for you mouth."

Justin follows me to the kitchen and I get out a baggy to fill with ice then wrap it in a towel. Justin's actually smiling as I hold the makeshift ice pack to his jaw - I'm not sure why since getting your ass handed to you by your father after getting inadvertently outed isn't usually the kind of stuff to make you grin. He's looking at me with that shit eating grin and those adoring sapphire blue eyes though and I can't help smiling back even with my raging hangover.  

"What the fuck are you so happy about, twat?" I can't help but ask.

"My dad said you stood up for me," Justin starts to explain. "You told him you loved me?"

"Don't let it go to your head," I respond, curling my lips under to hide the smile that wants to break out without permission. "I was just having fun poking at the beast. You should have seen how his face turned sort of purple-red when I said that."

Justin didn't say anything more, he just kept right on grinning at me and I eventually gave up and let myself grin back. What a couple of lesbians, right? I'd better check and make sure my dick's still there after all this drivel.

"So now what, Sunshine?" I finally get to the point.

"I don't know. My dad gave me an ultimatum - he said either I give up my 'disgusting lifestyle' and promise never to see you again or I shouldn't bother coming home again. The fucking prick." Justin wasn't smiling anymore as he related what his dad said. "So, since I don't really have a lot of options, I guess I'm off to eat my pride, kiss the prick's ass and pretend to be straight for a few more months till I can leave for college. I didn't want to just disappear on you without saying goodbye, though."

"Fuck that! Don't ever let them make you pretend to be someone you're not. You have options, Justin."

"Well, yeah, but homelessness just really doesn't sound all that fun. And, with no job, no money and nowhere to live, that is really my only other choice. So, dad wins for now," he says with a resigned shrug. "I'll get through this and I figure once I'm in college he can go jump in a lake - I'll be able to do what I want then. It's only a year. I can deal for that long. If only . . . "

"If only what?"

"It's just that I'll miss you, Brian. I know we haven't known each other that long, but, well . . . it's been really great and I wish . . . "

"Justin, is that what you really want?" I ask, trying not to push too hard. "Can you really do this - pretend to be what Craig wants for another year?"

"No. It's not what I want. I just don't have a choice, Brian."

"Yes, you do. You could move in here, with me," I make the offer, hoping that I'm not rushing things again - I don't want to scare him off.  

"You don't mean that, Brian," Justin scoffs at the out of character offer. "Don't worry. I'll be okay. I'll get by somehow."

"You're right that you haven't known me for long. Once you have, you'll learn that I never say anything I don't mean," I advise the boy, watching the hope grow in his eyes. "I wouldn't offer to let you move in here unless I meant it. You're more than welcome if you want to stay here, Sunshine. I admit that I'm a bitch to live with sometimes, but at least with me you'll never have to pretend to be something you're not. So, what do you say, roomie?"

"Really?"

"Yes, twat, really."

"Okay. I guess you have yourself a new roommate, Mr. Kinney," Justin says giving me one of his full out sunshine smiles - the one I can never resist.