Chris could still feel that cold stab of fear that pierced the very core of his being when he called Eddie to make sure his old friend had picked up his Jag with no trouble. Eddie had to give Hobbs his two cents worth about the inconvenience of having to fly to New York City just to get his car, but that wasn't the problem. It's what came after that scared the crap out him. It had been a couple of weeks since Chris had run away from his troubles back home, but now he wasn't so sure he had run far enough. He learned that the cops had started questioning every single one of the guys all over again and had made it clear they were looking for Chris in particular. Eddie swore up and down that he had played it real cool and they didn't have a clue that he knew anything about his old friend's whereabouts, but that didn't ease Chris' sense of foreboding.

He looked around the dingy room he was staying in and cursed the day he had ever seen that fair-haired fairy boy, Justin Taylor. He should be relaxing at home and preparing for his first year at the University, but instead he was driving a piece of shit old car that cost him eighteen hundred of his precious dollars while living in a cheap motel just outside the City. He had to save as much money as he could. He knew his seed money wouldn't last long and he'd be forced to get a crappy job somewhere if he wanted to stay anonymous. He had paid several hundred dollars for a false ID and Social Security card, but that didn't really make him feel any safer. He was already beginning to feel like a hunted man and looking over his shoulder every minute was nerve wracking. It didn't matter. He would never turn himself in, even if they had already figured out that he was the one who attacked Justin. 

He had given Eddie his new cell number from the burn phone that he had picked up at the corner store that the cops couldn't trace back to him. With any luck, his friend would be able to learn more about how much the cops actually knew and what they were really after. Forewarned was forearmed. If worse came to worse, Chris would simply have to leave the Country. If he had to keep living like he was doing now, that might not be such an unattractive prospect after all. He had never liked travelling much, but moving to some faraway foreign place where they had no extradition treaty was beginning to look a little better to the panicky young man. He'd give it a few more days and then make up his mind. 

Having made a decision, Chris calmed down and bit into the greasy hamburger he had bought at the little cafe across the street. He swallowed the tasteless bite and thought longingly about his mother...well, not so much the woman herself, but about the great meals she always made for him at home. Chris didn't really miss either of his parents that much. He was tired of his dad always taking credit for his son's athletic prowess and his mom always moping about the house like a ghost. What he did miss was all the comforts of home...his nice big bed, closetful of clothes, entertainment center, computer, and secret stash of porn (not all of which was as hetero as he liked to think). Thinking about his mom's cooking brought on the self-pity again. Chris slammed the burger down, pushed back the rickety old chair away from the chipped table he was sitting at and grabbed for the keys to the old Chevy he had picked up in a street sale. He would find a decent restaurant and have a good meal. Fuck the cops and their threat.

*******************************************************************

Brian pulled out slowly from the warm security of Justin's body and fell over onto his side. Justin lowered his legs onto the sheets and sighed deeply. Contentment covered him like a warm blanket on a freezing day. It had been a week and a half since his release from the hospital and it was the first time that Brian had felt secure enough with Justin's health to take possession of him fully. It had taken a little coaxing on Justin's part and a seductive reminder of what they were missing for Brian to give in, but it had been well worth the trouble. Every time they made love was better than the last, but this time there was something extra....a poignancy that they hadn't felt before. Maybe it was knowing how close they had come to never having this feeling again, but it didn't matter what the reason was, because it felt so damned good and more right than anything else in their lives. 

Brian rose up on his elbow and looked down into Justin's flushed face. The afterglow of their coupling literally shone in his bright eyes and swollen lips. He smiled languidly up into Brian's beautiful face and felt an overwhelming urge to say what was in his heart. He laid the palm of his hand gently against Brian's cheek. He loved the feel of the slight stubble that always grew there so late in the evening. Justin was young, but he already knew exactly what made him feel alive. It was the manly feel of a hard body...the masculine scent of a lover deep in the throes of passion...the feel of stubble on a face as lips pressed hard against his...and he knew that he was one of those lucky few who had found the right one, the soul mate of his very existence early on. There would be no need to search for Mr. Right. Mr. Right had found him. He took his finger and traced the outline of Brian's lips, then reached up to join with his. The kiss was warm and tender and full of promise.

"Brian," he began quietly as their lips parted, "I know you were really upset when I was hurt and you felt guilty, which was totally stupid, but I just want you to know that I won't hold you to any declarations of love or anything like that. I mean, you don't owe me anything just because I told you how much I love you. I know you've been a committed bachelor for a really long time and I won't blame you if you feel like going back to that lifestyle again once this is all over."

Brian's face pinched in a scowl, but only for a second. It softened again before he spoke.

"You little idiot! Do you really think I'm the kind of guy who would throw out words like 'I love you' just to hear myself talk? I kind of thought you knew me better than that by now. Justin Taylor....I don't ever say something I don't mean. Now let me repeat myself just one more time and then I don't want to hear your nonsense ever again. Do I have your full attention, young man?"

Justin nodded solemnly, but the corners of his mouth betrayed the humor he found in Brian's stern demeanor.

"Okay...now listen up! I never say what I don't mean...not for any reason, and certainly not out of any false guilt. I said that I love you because, despite my best attempts to avoid it, I have allowed your sneaky little heart to find that one crack in the wall I built over my own heart long ago. Now you've managed to wiggle your way in there where you have taken up permanent residence. Don't think for a minute that I didn't try to avoid falling so hard for you. I told myself you were just a kid. I told myself that you needed to experience more of the world and not settle on someone like me so quickly. I even told myself that you only thought you loved me like any silly school boy with a teenage crush. I've told myself all kinds of shit in order to avoid admitting how I really felt, but when I realized how close I came to actually losing you I knew I couldn't deny how I really felt any longer. If I did and I never got the chance again to tell you....well, that is something I couldn't forgive myself for. Now, have I made myself clear? Let's face it, Sunshine, I am crazy in love with you and you are in love with me. Looks to me like we are stuck with each other."

As Brian continued speaking, Justin's eyes slowly filled with unshed tears. These were not tears of pain, but of unimaginable joy. It was more than he could have hoped for. Brian Kinney...hard-boiled police officer, dedicated lifelong bachelor, and non-believer in romantic love had just waxed poetic with a declaration that would melt the heart of even the most devout cynic. How could he top that?

"Ditto," he declared with misty eyes. 

"Ditto?" Brian laughed incredulously. "I've just poured my heart out to you and all you can say is...Ditto?" 

Justin grinned and pushed Brian over onto his back. In one fell swoop, he jumped up from the mattress and threw his naked body on top of Brian's. 

"Would you prefer I 'show' you my response instead?" he asked with a twinkle in his eye.

Brian's eyebrow cocked upwards and a slow grin spread across his face. Justin straddled Brian's hips. He leaned forward and held Brian's arms above his head. He swooped in for a kiss that would have set off the fire alarm if it had been closer to the bed. He didn't release Brian from the sweet torture until they were both gasping for air. Unbelievably, both men were already sprouting semi-hard boners. They simply couldn't help themselves. This time they made love slow and easy. The world was theirs and they had all the time they needed to enjoy it. An hour later, they lay spooned together in a natural embrace that made them one. They slept that way until a combination of the early morning light and a loud ringtone woke them from their peaceful slumber.

The phone call was from Carl. As Justin slid from the warm sheets and padded off to the bathroom, Brian picked up his phone before Carl could finish leaving a message. The man sounded excited and Brian was eager to hear if there was any news on the search for Hobbs. 

"...so call me as soon as you get this m....."

"Carl, don't hang up. What were you saying about big news for us?" Brian asked, cutting Carl off.

"Glad I caught you in, partner. Looks like we may have caught a big break. I told you that we were going to take a closer look at all the footballers who alibied each other the night that Billy Simpson was attacked. Looks like we may have rattled some cages. Every single one of them started out all cocky and arrogant during their second questioning, but a few of them started back-tracking after we kept at them for a while. Suddenly they weren't so sure about their whereabouts at that exact time, or they said they had been with their friends but they weren't so sure about the time. By the time we let them go, we could see that some of them regretted saying they were with Hobbs. We didn't bother hiding the fact that we were looking at Hobbs for Justin's bashing. Nobody actually admitted to lying, but we've planted a seed. "

"Here's the best part. We couldn't find any evidence of Hobbs leaving town but we haven't been able to locate him either. Then, while checking out his pals we did discover that one of them took a flight out of town a couple of days after the bashing, yet there was no return flight. To top that off, he was only gone for the day. When we asked his mother why he didn't just drive to the City, she revealed that he had told her he lent his car to a friend and had to leave to pick it up."

"Sounds to me like this kid helped Hobbs to get out of town, wouldn't you say, Carl?" Brian suggested.

"That's what I'm thinking too. We're going to be leaning on this kid extra hard and seeing what more we can learn. In the meantime, we're going to start focusing around the New York City area. If we're real lucky, Hobbs will slip up and reveal where he's hiding. If nothing else, maybe one of his cronies will spook him into making a mistake and we'll catch him that way. Now that we were able to identify his fingerprints on the tire iron, thanks to his arrest last year for a DUI, we got all the evidence we needed to get an arrest warrant. He can't stay off the radar forever. So how is Justin doing? Debbie is worried about him."

By this time, Justin had returned from the bathroom and plopped down on the bed next to Brian. Brian had the phone on speaker and he heard Carl's inquiry. 

"Tell Debbie to stop fretting. I'm feeling fine. I have the world's best nurse," he declared, placing a sloppy kiss on Brian's shoulder.

Brian threw his arm around Justin and gave him a quick kiss in return.

"He's back to the old Justin. You can trust me on that," Brian laughed. "Tell Debbie that we promise to visit her this weekend. I believe Justin is ready to get back out into the world," he turned to Justin, "right, Sunshine?"

Carl responded, "That's good to hear. I'll pass on the news. That woman is the biggest Mother Hen I've ever met. She's already threatened to do severe damage to my manhood if we don't find and throw Hobbs into the darkest, deepest hole available, and she's talking yesterday....not tomorrow."

Brian and Justin both laughed. They knew Debbie wasn't joking. 

"Well, we'll try to take some of the heat off you, Carl. Anyway, thanks for the update. Like I said, we're planning on getting out soon, but we'll still have to be on guard until that scumbag is caught," Brian promised.

"I know, but that won't be for long. At least I hope not. I'll call you if I hear anymore."

"Thanks Carl."

"Yeah, thanks Carl," Justin added.

As soon as the couple heard the phone click off they leaned in for a little morning sugar. They let the kiss linger, enjoying the feel of each other. When they parted, Justin got up to throw some clothes on. He loved fixing breakfast for Brian. Brian sat on the edge of the bed and watched his lover. As Justin slipped on his sweat pants, Brian asked him a question.

"Are you sure you're ready to leave the safety of this place, Sunshine? I don't want to rush you into anything."

Justin stopped with the tee shirt he was about to put on still in mid air. He paused for a second and then pulled the shirt down over his head before answering. He walked back over to where Brian sat and squatted down in front of him. He placed his hands on Brian's knees and looked up into the face he had come to love so much.

"I can't...no, I won't let Hobbs or anyone else rob me of my life. I didn't do anything wrong so I'm not locking myself up and throwing away the key. The only thing I ever did was fall in love with a man who is worth a thousand....no, a million times more than any homophobic assholes, including...or should I say, especially Hobbs. We're aware of the danger now. There will be no sneak attacks like the one that coward pulled on Billy and me and probably has been pulling on innocent men in the past. I feel perfectly safe with you, Brian. Besides, I miss the old gang and Debbie. So, we are still going out this weekend...right?"

Brian pulled Justin up and onto his lap. He hugged the blond with all the love he possessed inside him and kissed him deeply. At that moment, he had never been as proud of anyone in his life as he was Justin. He had chosen wisely by falling in love with this young man and he prayed they'd have years to enjoy what they had with one another. As of right now, he intended to show Justin once again how happy he was that they were together. Chris Hobbs, be damned! Hopefully he would be soon.

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