MICHAEL 

I got outside to see someone sitting on my car. I look closer and wonder why Daphne would be here.

“Hey, get off my car.” I tell her. 

“Not until you realize how stupid what you're about to do is.” Daphne tells me. 

“What are you talking about?” I ask her. 

“I'm talking about you ruining your marriage. Normally I'd let you hang yourself, but you're fucking with people I love. ” She tell me. 

“Like you have a clue about my relationship.” I tell her. 

“More than you seem to.” She tells me. 

“Whatever, can you get off my car, I need to go.” I tell her. 

“Nope, you seem to think running to Brian solves things. I'm here to save them from dealing with Mikey throwing a tantrum.” She tell me. 

“It's Michael, only my best friend has my permission to call me that.” I tell her.

“I have my best friend’s permission to tell you to solve your own shit.” She tells me. 

“Brian would want to help me.” I tell her. 

“Being best friends must mean something else to you. I don't need Justin to take care of me. You shouldn't need Brian to do that for you.” She tells me. 

“Why are you here?” I ask her. 

“Someone who only wants the best for you and Ben asked me to stop you from driving Ben away by getting in this car.” She tells me. 

“Ben is just angry right now and he isn't going to leave me for doing this.” I tell her, lying to myself.

“You're willing to throw away your marriage by lying to yourself?” She asks me. 

“Why aren’t you pissed at me too?” I ask her. 

“I am, but I like Ben enough that if he wants you, then I'll help him. You need to be man enough to talk to your husband, not run from the only person stupid enough to love you.” She tells me. 

“Why does Brian even like you?” I ask her. 

“Because I can be Justin’s friend and not act like I know everything about Justin, or rub it in Brian’s face that I knew Justin first. I also don't tell Brian anything as if I'm the authority on all things Justin. ” She tells me. 

“Brian needs me to stop him when he does things that will hurt Justin. Justin never understood that Brian will always do what he wants and not care how it affects Justin. I tried to get Justin to accept Brian the way he is.” I tell her. 

“Why do you do that?” She asks me. 

“What?” I ask her confused. 

“Try to make it sound like what you do is helping when it's just interfering. No one else sees it that way” She tells me. 

“You can seriously sit here and not see those two aren't always having problems?” I ask her. 

“Sure they do, but you have bigger problems. Me sitting on your car should give you a fucking clue, because no matter how Justin feels about you, he would still want to save you from yourself.” She tells me. 

I drop my bag, because she's right. Am I willing to risk Ben leaving because of everyone else?

“I don’t know how to make it right.” I tell her. 

“Running to New York isn't the answer. Remember, Justin tried it.” She tells me. 

“He also had Brian chasing him even when it went against everything Brian preaches.” I tell her leaning on the car.

“Scary to know that Brian wanted him even then, isn’t it?” She asks me. 

“It was the first time I was disappointed in Brian.” I tell her. 

“Why?” She asks me. 

“He acted like he didn’t care what happened to Justin. It made me wonder if everyone was right, that he can’t care about anyone.” I tell her. 

“I didn’t know Brian well then, but he went, so that's all that mattered to me at the time.” She tells me. 

“It's weird now that I worried about someone who was replacing me.” I tell her. 

“Justin has a place in Brian’s life that you could never have filled.” She tells me. 

“I know, but I was living in a world where he'd eventually see me as more. Now I just see that Brian couldn’t give me what Ben does.” I tell her. 

“If you see that, why are you chasing your past and not your future?” She asks me. 

“Because I'm an idiot who can't tell Ben the things that are scaring me.” I tell her. 

“Mikey’s getting a clue.” She tells me smiling. 

“I still don’t understand why you showed up.” I tell her, not minding she used that name. 

“If want my boyfriend to quit worrying, I deal with you.” She tells me. 

“Why would your boyfriend care?” I ask her. 

“That's my secret, maybe you'll figure it out.” She tells me hopping off my car.

She is such a strange girl, I feel sorry for her boyfriend. Instead of getting in my car to do something stupid, I drive to get breakfast for Ben and Hunter when they show up. I was walking around the store and realize that my answer to them dying is to do what I can to keep them healthy. I put up the white bread and grab wheat instead. Instead of regular oil, I start reading and grab olive oil. I get to the bacon and just can't pretend turkey is bacon. I drive home deciding that if Ben wants that much attention then I’ll give him all he can handle. Then he’ll see that he’s first, even if sometimes I have to help my friends.

BEN

I looked out the window of our room smiling at Emmett, who is sitting by the pool with Drew. They've been sitting there all night, talking. Brian might act like he doesn’t involve himself in all our lives, but Ted admitted that he and Drew meeting was planned by Brian, just so Emmett would accidentally bump into Drew. For someone who pretends not to give a shit, Brian’s actions are the opposite.

Hunter was smiling at his text messages. I wanted to let him sleep in, but I was really waiting to see if Michael ended our relationship by showing up. 

“You ready champ?” I ask him. 

“Yep, are you?” He asks me. 

“Hunter, don’t let whatever happens between us be your problem. Our problems aren't about you, but us.” I tell him. 

“Do you still love him? Because for all his faults, he's still my dad.” He asks me like he's apologizing for loving Michael.

“I do, but I need him to stop hiding his fears by using other people.” I tell him. 

“Then you need to tell him you're not okay with it, instead of finding ways to shut him up.” He tells me. 

“Brian Kinney’s school of truth?” I ask him. 

“Hunter Novotny-Bruckner’s observation on the lives of my fathers.” He tells me. 

Hunter goes to tell Jenny and Gus goodbye and I sit with Mel. We were leaving in time to get back for Hunter to work the dinner shift at the diner.     

“He's a wonderful big brother.” Mel tells me as Hunter carries Jenny around letting her talk a mile a minute.

“He's the best kid I could have had.” I tell her. 

“I hope you and Michael work it out.” She tells me. 

“I don’t know if we can, but him not showing up here is a start.” I tell her. 

“Even if he did, it's Michael not seeing the forest for the trees. Lindsay gets tunnel vision too, when it comes to Brian.” She tells me. 

“I can't wait forever for Michael to put us first.” I tell her. 

“Then don't be wishy-washy about it. You let him get away with everything and expect him to understand when you get upset at him for doing the same things you let him do yesterday.” She tells me. 

“I never saw it that way.” I tell her. 

“I didn’t either when I acted the same way with Lindsay. Now I can see what mixed signals did to our marriage. Michael isn’t blameless, but neither are you.” She tells me. 

“You're in a good mood.” I tell her because mellow isn't Mel.

“I want to hug a ray of Sunshine.” She tells me. 

“What did Justin do?” I ask her. 

“It's the call I got at five this morning. Which would have driven me insane yesterday but makes my life easier today.” She tells me. 

“You’re pregnant?” I ask her. 

“I'm waiting for next month, so no. I got a call from Deb.” She tells me. 

“What, to tell me to get home and take care of Michael?” I ask.

“She called to tell me Jenny is going to be a flower girl in her wedding. Then told me that she only wants us to promise to bring Jenny and Gus around more now that we are moving closer.” She tells me. 

“How the hell did Justin get her to listen?” I ask her. 

“I think it’s because Justin can say it in a way that it sounds less intrusive.” Mel tells me. 

“Brian’s too ‘in your face’.” I tell her.

“Just like me, Deb, and Blake can be.” She tells me. 

I kiss her and Jenny goodbye and get in the car with Hunter. He is constantly checking his phone but eventually falls asleep as we get on the highway. I don't know what will happen when we get home, but Michael and I need to make sure Hunter knows we will always love him. I hear his phone buzz on the console and look to see if I should wake him up.

“I love you too, get your ass home, so I can show you!😉”

I read it and realize Hunter’s got a girlfriend. I put his phone back and decide to let him tell us when he's ready. 

JUSTIN

I was in the kitchen reading about how folic acid helps in the growth of brain cells. I get up and realize that we need some orange juice and I wonder if Mel would think there’s really such thing as orange juice of the month club. I grab my wallet to run to the corner to get some juice. When I get back Brian is rolling his eyes at me.

“You know the Month Clubs are for different kinds of the same thing. So no Mel wouldn’t believe you. No we are not naming the baby BJ, for obvious reasons.” He tells me, looking at the notes on the side of the pages of the baby book.

“I only put that there to fuck with you.” I tell him, lying my ass off, because I didn’t think of that.

“Oh, and no we aren’t buying an ultrasound machine just so you can play Doctor with Mel.” He tells me.

I did the only thing guaranteed to shut up Brian Kinney, pulling down his sweats and giving him a reason to really argue that BJ is a bad name for the baby. 

“I like the way you think Mr Taylor.” He moans out.

I use my tongue to lick all the nerve ending that make his legs shake as I slowly slide him down my throat. He loves it when I hum to vibrate around his cock as I continue to fuck him with my mouth.

“There is nooo… way… lick it again.” He stutters out as I go back down on him.

He grabs my hair and starts moving his hips as he gets closer to cumming. I hold still and let my tongue do the work while Brian uses my mouth to get what he needs. I taste him and start swallowing as he pours himself into my mouth.

“Like I was saying there is no way to convince Mel to install cameras in the baby’s room so you can spy on it all the time.” He pants out.

“Stop reading my stuff.” I grab my books and walk away. Really, what’s wrong with watching over my kid all the time?