Jennifer Taylor gasped out loud when she saw her boy...no, she thought to herself...her young man walking down the stairs. Justin was simply gorgeous. Her son had turned into one very handsome man right in front of her eyes. Her children helped to make her mess of a marriage worthwhile, although it was kind of hard to believe that a man like Craig could have helped to create someone as wonderful as Justin. But Jen didn't have a moment to waste on thinking about Craig Taylor. She had invited him to see Justin before his son attended his big prom but he was busy, or so he said. It didn't surprise Jen and she was simply relieved that Justin didn't seem to care one way or the other.

Justin had taken special pains to look his best on this momentous night. He had been very disappointed that Brian hadn't accepted his invitation to the dance but not really surprised. He realized it was asking an awful lot of the police officer and Brian had already done more for him than he could have ever asked for. This didn't mean that Justin had abandoned his plan to ‘out' himself on this night. After all, he didn't have anything to fear from the school any more. Classes were over and the only thing left to do was pick up his Diploma. The school couldn't keep that from him and the Pittsburgh Institute of Fine Arts had already accepted him. Justin was feeling a little cocky tonight and a part of him really looked forward to sticking it in the face of some of his blatantly homophobic teachers and fellow classmates. They could stick their prejudices and biases in their asses because he wouldn't have to listen to their crap ever again.

"Oh my God, Justin! You look beautiful," Jen proclaimed with pride. She stared admiringly at Justin's perfectly-fitted tux and freshly- scrubbed face topped by his neatly-coiffed, shining blond hair.

Justin couldn't help blushing. "Aw, Mom!"

By this time he had reached the bottom of the steps and Jen walked over to him.

"It's the truth, son. You make a mother proud. It's not that you are so darn cute (Justin blushed again) but that you have such a good heart. All this is topped off with intelligence and talent. What more could a mother ask for?"

Justin felt choked up. He came close to telling his mother what he was planning to do tonight as he hugged her. He didn't want to do that to her, however, as it would only make her worry. Once it was done and over with she could relax and he would have saved her the concern. His father would be a different story, of course. Craig Taylor would certainly be angry enough to spit fireballs. A slow grin spread across Justin's face. Jen noticed it right away.

"What are you thinking about, Justin?" she asked her son.

"I...ahhh...was just thinking how different my life will be after tonight. Once I get away from that school and its restrictive atmosphere I'll be able to be myself more openly." Justin paused a moment and reflected. He began again with a much more serious tone. "You have no idea how hard it is to keep your true self hidden out of fear for so long. At least at PIFA I won't have to hide anything. Probably half the students there are gay. You know what an artistic bunch we are," he laughed.

"Now who is stereotyping?" Jen remarked. "But seriously Justin, I'm sorry you've had to hide your real identity from the world just to be safe. It's criminal that any young man or woman can't be open about their feelings in this modern world, but things are changing and it is through the efforts of young people like yourself that it's happening. Who knows? Maybe by the time you find your true love you'll even be able to marry him openly some day."

Justin choked. "Geez, Mom, gimme a break. I'm just getting out of high school. I'm not thinking about true loves just yet."

This was only half true since the image of Brian flashed across Justin's mind right after his mom made her announcement. Of course, Justin thought to himself, that is just a fantasy. But maybe his mother was right and some day he would find a lover who would want to marry him and that he would want to spend his entire life with. But that was in the future. Right now he had a Prom to get to and a friend to pick up. Justin gave his mother a quick peck on the cheek and reminded her he would bring the car home safe and sound. She reminded him that she just wanted him home safe and sound and gave him a squeeze.

"Tell Daphne I said ‘hi' and to have a good time too," Jen shouted to Justin's retreating back as he hurried out to his mother's car.

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Brian checked his locker to make sure he hadn't left anything inside that he might need for the weekend. He hadn't. He tapped his pocket where the small box sat inside his jacket. As long as he had the box with him he was set. Brian had promised himself he would wait until after the Prom was over and he had taken Justin out to the club the following night before giving the young man the box but now he was having second thoughts. He had overheard a couple of the beat cops talking about their off-duty job of providing security at some of the hotels in town where Senior Proms were being held. It had gotten Brian to thinking about the invitation to attend Justin's Prom at one of the nicest hotels in the city. Brian knew it would be foolish to go as Justin's date but that didn't mean he couldn't show up afterwards. He was fairly certain that Justin's friend, Daphne wouldn't mind that much if he took the young man off her hands after the dance was over.

Brian closed his locker and walked out of the locker room. He said ‘good night' to a few co-workers as he left the building. It was still hours before Justin's Prom would be over so Brian jumped in his Jeep and headed over to his favorite diner to get a bite of dinner and see if any of the gang had arrived there yet. When he entered the Liberty Diner many eyes fell on him as often happened. Brian, who had once relished the attention he drew, barely noticed. His mind was on other things or more truthfully someone else. He hoped Justin would have a really good time at his Prom. Brian remembered his own with regret. He attended with Michael but neither one of them felt free to be themselves. He admired Justin's spunk in even suggesting that Brian go as his date. If he hadn't feared for the young man's safety he would have seriously considered it.

Instead of going as Justin's date Brian made up his mind that he would peek in to see how the dance was going and then wait for Justin in the parking lot. There he would give the young man the little graduation present he had just bought him and then take him out for a late night celebration. As he placed his order with Debbie he began picturing just how he would help Justin to celebrate his graduation. The image in his head caused a visible swelling in his jeans. He might have ended up with a fully-fledged hard-on if he hadn't heard Emmett's high-pitched greeting from the front door of the diner. Michael and Ted followed right behind, all with boyfriends in tow. In minutes the whole gang was seated at two booths and chatting away about their busy day.

Michael was the first to notice how quiet Brian was being. He had barely added a sentence or two to the conversation. Even after dinner was served and the chatting continued Brian was abnormally quiet. Michael who was sitting right next to his old friend draped his arm over Brian's shoulders.

"Hey, what gives Bri? You haven't said two words since we got here. Do you have an especially hard case to deal with right now? I'll bet it has something to do with all those gay bashings that were going on for a while."

Brian let his thoughts of Justin and the night he was planning for the young man fade into the back of his mind as he turned to Mikey.

"What's that? You know Mikey, sometimes there just isn't anything worth saying. Like I told you before the bashings seem to have stopped and we haven't gotten any further in the investigation. It's still open but who knows? Maybe the creeps have moved on to more fertile territory. We still have patrols out in the parks but that won't last much longer. Budget cuts, you know. Anyway, I just had my mind on this coming weekend. Justin is graduating and I thought I'd do something special for him."

Mikey tried to hide his frown but didn't quite make it. It irritated Brian.

"Hey Mikey, have you already forgotten how miserable we were when we graduated high school? We ended up taking girls that we could have cared less about instead of who we really wanted to take. If I recall the only thing that saved that night for us was what we did after we dropped the girls off. You remember that. Don't you?" Brian asked, his irritation showing in the tone of his voice.

Michael blushed as the memory of his Prom Night returned. Oh yes indeed, he remembered that night. Thanks to Brian, he had his very first full-on sexual encounter at Babylon that night and he'd never forgotten it. Of course Brian had three sexual encounters that night instead of one, but that was no surprise to Michael.

"I remember. So you're going to take the kid to Babylon and see to it he has a hook-up for the night too?" Michael asked hopefully.

"Something like that," Brian replied cryptically.

The conversation then moved on to other things and everyone finished their meals. Brian went along with the gang when they headed for Woody's for an after-dinner drink and the chance to shoot a little pool, but his mind was still on Justin. The hours moved far too slowly as far as he was concerned. Finally it was after one and Brian knew the dance was over at two. He decided it was time to check out the Prom and see how Justin was doing. He would stay hidden until it was time to reveal himself when the young man left the dance. That was the plan.

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Justin watched Billy and his sister from across the room. He had told Daphne of his plan to ask Billy to dance but he hadn't gotten up the nerve yet. The dance had been going really well. There was a great DJ available and the seniors were in a light-hearted mood. There had been no real tension between the varying groups that normally enjoyed a verbal scuffle or two. It was probably due to the fact that they would soon be free of each other for good. Except for picking up their diplomas at the ceremony, they would never have to be in each other's faces again...unless they would be attending the same colleges, of course. But they were too happy to be out of high school to worry about that problem right now.

Justin had danced almost every dance with Daphne. He thoroughly enjoyed dancing but he couldn't help wishing it was Brian's strong, masculine arms holding him as he danced rather than Daphne's soft ones. He smiled to himself as he continued staring at Billy. The young man was even paler than Justin with fine, blond hair that he wore rather long to match his sister's silken, blonde tresses. His features were delicate and the only way you could tell him from his twin sister was the clothes they wore. Justin wondered if dancing with Billy would feel like he was dancing with a man or a woman. He already knew it wouldn't feel anything like dancing with Brian.

Justin had no way of knowing that Brian had already arrived at the hotel. He had slipped into the ballroom where the dance was being held and kept a watch on the proceedings. He had told the cop on duty at the front door that he was doing a favor for a friend who wanted to make sure his kid stayed at the dance the whole night and didn't slip away in order to get in trouble. The cop respected the detective's claim and had no problem letting him in. It had taken a few minutes to locate Justin and Daphne. He couldn't believe how beautiful the blond was. He stood out in the crowd like a shining beacon in comparison to the dull lights most of the kids exuded.

"That's my boy," Brian absent-mindedly sighed.

Soon there was only time left for one more dance, according to the DJ. Brian was glad to see that there had been no problems for Justin. He was obviously having a good time. Brian had just about decided to leave and drive his Jeep over to where he found Jennifer's car parked so that he could surprise Justin when he saw the blond say something to Daphne and give her a nod. He then moved swiftly over to where a rather cute, young man was standing next to a girl who looked just like him. Brian was surprised to see Justin put out his hand to the young man. The kid just stared at the hand for a minute. Justin said something to both the girl and boy and she smiled broadly. She turned to the boy and said something herself. The boy shook his head ‘no' but a second later he changed his mind. Seconds later Justin was on the dance floor with the boy and they swayed to the music.

Brian felt a cold chill. What had gotten into Justin? Why did he have to make his statement at the last minute? He didn't feel any envy that it wasn't him on the dance floor with Justin. He was too busy using his cop instincts to check out the crowd that had formed around the two boys. Almost everyone else had stopped dancing and moved away to make more room for the gay boys. Brian searched faces for any sign of danger. The crowd was mixed. Some were openly approving, mostly the girls. Some were openly offended. That wasn't what Brian was looking for. He was looking for naked hatred. He finally spotted it. A tall, athletic kid stood with his date and gave Justin a look that would have stopped the young man's heart if he could have accomplished it. That was what Brian had been afraid of.

Brian's entire body tensed up. If the angry kid had made one move towards Justin it would have been his last that night. Instead the tall kid grabbed his girl by the arm and hurried her towards the front door. They disappeared from sight in a matter of seconds. Brian had no way of knowing that the angry young man was Justin's long-time nemesis, Chris Hobbs, the very guy that he had stopped Justin from pranking when they first met. If he had known about the bad blood between them he would have followed Chris after he left, but instead he was just glad to see the kid leave. No one else had such open hostility written on their faces so Brian relaxed a tiny bit. He hurried out to his Jeep so he wouldn't miss Justin when he left with Daphne.

The dance ended and Justin thanked Billy. Some of the kids actually clapped as Justin returned to Daphne. Others glowered at him as he passed but Justin was too happy to care. The night had ended just the way he wanted it to. Billy had been afraid at first but his sister had convinced him it was time to take a stand. Thankfully he had done so. Justin was feeling vindicated after years of subtle abuse at St James Academy. He had made a statement and no one could take that away from him. He could hardly wait to tell Brian all about it. He grabbed Daphne's hand and the two friends left the ballroom. They didn't notice that they were being followed by a tall, young man in the shadows of the building once they had exited into the large parking lot. They didn't even notice him as he crept between cars while keeping his eyes on the couple the whole time.

Justin had just about reached his mom's car when he realized it was being blocked by another vehicle. As he got closer he recognized Brian's Jeep. His heart skipped a beat. He hadn't expected to see Brian until tomorrow. This was too good to be true. As he and Daphne reached the car Brian stepped out of his vehicle and approached the couple. Justin couldn't stop himself. He ran into Brian's arms. The two kissed. The shadowy figure stopped dead. He had plans for Justin Taylor but a grown man wasn't a part of those plans....not since he was alone on this mission. He had planned to wait for Justin to escort Daphne into the car and then catch him before he could get in himself. He muttered to himself and hurried off to get his own car. If he couldn't get Justin in the parking lot he would follow the kid home. Maybe he could get him alone there.

As Hobbs skulked off Brian was enjoying the enthusiastic greeting of his young companion. Daphne smiled broadly as she watched the two embrace. Justin had told her plenty about his feelings for the cop and she certainly could see why he felt the way he did. Detective Kinney was one gorgeous hunk of man and he certainly knew how to make Justin feel good. Once the couple parted Brian told Justin what he had in mind for the rest of the evening. He didn't have to ask Justin twice. With Daphne's blessings Justin hurried her home and met Brian in his own driveway. Justin ran in to let his mom know that he was going out with Brian and then hurried back out to the waiting Jeep. As he climbed into the vehicle he leaned over for another of Brian's special kisses. The two men smiled at each other and Brian pulled out of the driveway. They were too excited about the coming evening to notice that they were being tailed by another vehicle bent on finding out where they were going.

To be continued..........................