Chris Hobbs held the phone as far from his ear as could and winced. Even with the hundreds of miles between him and his father, the old man could make him feel like a frightened little kid. He silently cursed his buddy, Eddie, for giving his Dad the phone when Chris called to check on the status of the police investigation. How was he supposed to know that the old man would be over at Eddie's house trying to force information out of his friend at just the right moment to intercept his son's call? 

There was a reason he hadn't told his father he was skipping town, and his father's ranting just reinforced that reasoning. Naturally for Hobbs Senior, the one thing that made him the most angry was that his son had taken money without permission. Next, he went on and on about how Chris had brought shame to the family name. He never mentioned the crime. Chris knew his father hated queers as much as he did, so he wasn't concerned about his father's opinion of the crime. The old man was just angry that Chris' actions had drawn media attention in their hometown and people were now talking about them behind their backs. The last thing he said to Chris before hanging up was to get out of the Country. He had no intention of having their name dragged through the mud in open court. Chris knew that he meant what he said. The bastard even offered to provide Chris with more funds if he would just leave the Country and never come back. 

As Chris listened to the dead air on his throwaway cell phone, his thoughts quickly turned to the most disturbing thing he had heard before the old man grabbed the phone. Eddie informed Chris that the police had stopped playing cat and mouse with the gang and finally revealed that they had enough evidence on Chris to obtain an arrest warrant for the attack on Billy Simpson and Justin Taylor. No mention was made of the other attacks the entire gang had been involved in, much to their obvious relief, but that didn't mean that all the other guys from their merry band of roving vigilantes didn't need to sweat in the future. They knew it, Eddie knew it, and Chris knew it. 

Chris could hear the accusatory tone in Eddie's voice when that part of this whole thing came up. Chris was well aware that he had fucked up big time. He never should have struck so close to home by going out on his own with his personal vendetta. After talking to Eddie, Chris had the uneasy feeling that some of the guys were weighing their options to turn State's evidence against him in return for leniency for any part they may have played in the gay bashings. Chris knew that no one had come forward yet simply because no one had been accused of being a part of Justin or Billy's attacks. He was also certain that if the harsh light of suspicion fell on any one of them, certain members of their gang would squeal like stuck pigs at a luau. 

A loud bang outside his motel room door caused Chris to jump nearly a foot in the air. He fell backwards onto the bedbug-infested mattress, cursing silently under his breath. He lay there as still as a corpse, his heart beating in double time. It was probably nothing but one of his drunken neighbors falling all over themselves on the way to their own door or dropping something like a half full-bottle of whiskey, but it could also be the police about to break down his door. Several seconds ticked by as Chris lay back, not moving a single muscle for fear of attracting attention.

A minute later, Chris shook himself, feeling like a complete idiot. How in hell could he possibly attract attention inside his locked room with the single shabby curtain tightly closed over the tiny window? He knew he was becoming paranoid and it made matters worse. He was getting sick and tired of jumping at every shadow and noise. This was not the life he had envisioned for himself after finally escaping the restrictions of high school. The only one who should be looking over their shoulder and feeling fear was that sick pervert, Justin Taylor. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. It never once occurred to Chris that he was the one responsible for his own misery. In his mind, his predicament was entirely Justin's fault. 

As he lay crouched on his pathetic excuse for a bed, he cursed the blond and began dreaming of ways to make the young man pay. The problem with all his fantasies was that he would have to return to Pittsburgh in order to accomplish even a single one of them. That wasn't happening. The chances were that he would never see his hometown again. He stretched out and continued to listen for any signs of disturbance outside his room until mental exhaustion finally overtook him and he drifted into a fretful sleep. Tonight would be filled with bad dreams, like so many nights since leaving Pittsburgh. He had reason to be restless. The long arm of the law was reaching out in search of the guilty man, just like in his nightmares.

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Debbie was putting the finishing touches on the Maple Cream Cake she was making for her brother's birthday party when Justin walked in behind her and reached around to dip his finger in the bowl of frosting. She playfully slapped his hand away and turned around to scold him, but the minute she saw the mischievous twinkle in his eye and his radiant smile she just didn't have the heart to do it. Instead she forced herself to fake a frown that slipped into a smile seconds later. 

"Where's your other half, Sunshine? Isn't he supposed to be keeping you out of trouble? I don't think I've seen him more than one foot away from you for what seems forever," she asked, only half kidding.

Justin made another attempt to swipe a little of the sweet cream frosting and got another swat for his efforts. 

"I know, Deb." 

Suddenly, Justin's voice took on a more serious tone. He turned around and placed himself with his back against the sink next to where Debbie was frosting her cake. 

"I worry about Brian sometimes, you know?"

Debbie stopped what she was doing and laid the spatula she had been working with on the side of the cake plate. She watched Justin intently, waiting for him to continue. When he didn't and seemed more lost in his own thoughts, she nudged him on.

"Why do you worry about Brian? He seems perfectly fine every time I see him. Granted, that isn't as often as the old days since he doesn't get out as much as he used to but I think that's a good thing. He finally has something, or should I say someone, to give him a reason to stay home more often. Has he said anything that would give you a reason to worry about him?"

"No, not really."

Justin quickly turned to face Debbie. His face was no longer all 'Sunshine' smiles. He looked quite serious.

"Deb, you've known Brian far longer than me...I know that, so maybe you can tell me if I'm imagining it. He seems.....well, different somehow. You know, more subdued and tense. He seems to always be on guard, like he is always expecting the worst to happen. And Deb, I think he feels guilty for what happened to me. He never even gets mad at me when I deserve it. He treats me with kid gloves all the time, like he's afraid I'll break or something."

"You know there are a lot of men who wouldn't mind having a boyfriend that solicitous, Justin."

"I know...and really, I'm not complaining except he doesn't seem like....well...like Brian Kinney. I'm not the only one who has noticed it. I've heard the gang talking about it too when they didn't think I was paying attention."

"Have you said anything to him about your concerns?" Debbie asked.

"I've tried to...a couple of times actually, but he either shuts down completely or tells me I'm being silly. Like the other day....I did something really careless and he acted like it was nothing. He has this shell bracelet he likes to wear as soon as he gets home from work. He never goes out without it on. It was sitting on the edge of the sink in the bathroom and I accidently knocked it into the trash can. I never noticed it. Later on that day, I took out the trash. When he got home, he was looking all over for it. It took a little detective work on his part but he finally figured out where it might have ended up. We went down to the apartment basement where all the trash ends up from the chutes above. It took an hour of searching through trash to finally find it. He loves that damned thing, but he never said a word to me about being so stupid."

"Maybe he thought you were more important than the bracelet, Justin."

"That's not what I mean. He could have at least bawled me out for not being more careful. That's just one example. There is nothing wrong with a little fussing sometimes. When I first got to know him, he wasn't afraid to let me know if I was doing or saying something wrong, or at least wrong in his eyes. Shit, we can't even kiss and make up if he is too afraid to fight with me over anything. He even lets me have my way with everything, like what we eat and what we do for entertainment. It's not natural. Is any of this making sense to you, or am I just looking for trouble over nothing?" 

Justin sounded confused. Debbie walked over and gave him a motherly hug. She had noticed how different Brian was being lately too, but put it down to Brian being in a real relationship for the first time in his life. Maybe Justin was right. Maybe there was more to it. Whatever it was, the two needed to work it out. She had never known of a couple more right for each other. It was obvious that they had that undefinable something that made two souls a single entity. 

"Where did you say Brian was?"

"Oh, I didn't. He dropped me off and then had to pick up Carl for the party. His car is in the shop. Besides that, I think he wanted to discuss this case against Chris Hobbs without me around. Ever since Brian went back to work, he and Carl have done nothing but work on the bashing cases, but he doesn't like to bring the work home. The truth is, I think he's afraid it will upset me since it's taking so long to track the bastard down. Every time I bring the subject up, he gives me a brief answer and then changes the subject altogether. I know how hard they are working on bringing Hobbs to justice, but I get the feeling he blames himself for it not being over right now."

"Alright, young man, you asked my opinion so here it is. I think you are right. Brian has always been a man who takes his responsibilities seriously. Maybe a bit too much sometimes. Let me tell you, he used to act like he didn't have a care in the world, but I saw through that mask from the time he was a little boy. If it hadn't been for Brian, my Mikey would have never made it through school. Bullies used to love to pick on him, but once Brian became his protector he never had a problem after that. Brian is a born cop. He enjoys taking care of others and putting the bad guys in their place. 

What I'm trying to say is that it is even more important for him that he take the best care of the people he loves. When you were first bashed, I and everyone else didn't know how he survived it. It wasn't just worry for you, although that was certainly there, but it was also guilt. He felt he had failed you."

Justin started to protest, but Debbie raised her hand to hush him.

"I know that it isn't logical, especially the way the whole thing went down, but that doesn't make him feel any less guilty. That is why he is treating you as if you were fragile. It isn't you, Justin, it's him. He's the one who is fragile right now. If he can't find and apprehend that son of a bitch and make you feel secure again, it will devastate him. You're going to have to make him see that you can handle this whole thing. Let him know exactly how you feel. Tell him...just come right out and tell him that you refuse to let this Hobbs bastard rob you of one more minute of your happiness with Brian. You're the only one that can do it and make it believable to him."

Just then they could hear the front door bell chime and the noise of greetings coming from the living room. They heard the distinct voices of the two police detectives over the voices of the few guests who had arrived for the party early. Both of their faces lit up at the sound of their men. Before leaving the room to join Brian, Justin leaned over and gave Debbie a big kiss on her cheek. 

"Thanks, Debbie."

"You're welcome, Sunshine." She gave him a quick peck in return.

Justin snuck another swipe at the frosting and hurried out of the room licking his finger before Debbie could lodge a protest. As he approached Brian and Carl, he saw they were still standing in the doorway of the tidy little house surrounded by Teddy, Blake, Melanie and Lindsay (parents of Brian's son), and his little boy, Gus. Justin broke into a welcoming smile. As always, just the sight of Brian made Justin's heart soar. When he reached the gathering, the friends moved aside, allowing Justin to be engulfed in Brian's arms. Without embarrassment Brian bent in for a sweet kiss, causing twitters from his three-year-old son and awwws from the others. 

They waited for the tiny crowd to disperse to other parts of the room to wait for more guests and the guest of honor. Carl hurried off to the kitchen. He knew where he would find Debbie. Brian kissed Justin again.

"Miss me?" he teased.

"Always. I'm glad you're back. Is everything okay?"

Brian shrugged. "Just fine," he answered noncommittally.

"Brian, can we go outside in the backyard while we are waiting for Vic and the party to begin? I'd like to talk to you."

Brian saw the look on Justin's face. Whatever he had on his mind, it was serious. The two men walked to the back door, not noticing the looks that followed them. Brian prayed that whatever was bothering Justin, he would be able to fix it. One thing that might help....he could now tell Justin that they had finally gotten a lead as to where Chris Hobbs was hiding out. If it panned out, the S.O.B. would be off the streets in a matter of days. He hadn't told Justin till now because he didn't want to get his hopes up, but maybe tonight was the right time to tell him. If they were lucky, they could begin living a normal life very soon. Brian wanted that more than anything in the world. 

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