“You look amazing,” Michael said.

Brian looked at himself in the mirror. He never thought he’d see this day. Nobody did except maybe Justin. The day he married the love of his life. In fact, he swore never to get married. After watching his parents slowly destroy each other along with him and his sister, he wanted no part of something like that. Brian Kinney, married man. It sounded so wrong, yet so right. To think he had let Justin slip away so many times. All that was over now. He would say his vows, Justin would say his and that would be it. Together until the end of time.

“Can you believe this is really happening, Mikey?”

“Michael snorted. “Not in this lifetime. I’m so happy for you.”

There was a light knock on the door. Causing them both to jump a little because they weren’t expecting anyone.

“What?” Brian yelled. Couldn’t they give him a minute with his best man in peace.

Justin was spent the night in his apartment and Brian in his loft. Justin had insisted on the stupid tradition. Because he rarely could say no to Justin about the big things, he folded. That meant him and Michael drank most of the night, only getting up an hour ago, Mikey looked a little rougher than him but that was to be expected, he wasn’t used to the drinking anymore.

He watched as Daphne slid open the door and walked in. She had an envelope crushed in her hand. She was dressed for the wedding, but her face showed like she was ready to go to a funeral. His stomach clenched.

“Yes?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. He didn’t need her to say anything. A little part of him had been expecting it. He knew in his heart he wasn’t meant for a happily ever after.

She didn’t say anything when she handed him the crinkled unopened envelope.

“What is it?” Michael asked Daphne.

“It was on his bed when I went to get him this morning. He left almost everything in the apartment, that means he’s not gone for good, right?”

“Leave,” he told them both. Michael opened his mouth but seemed to think better of it. They both left, without another word.

Brian walked up to his bed and sat down on the edge. For a few minutes, he debated just burning the damn thing. What was he going to do now? First thing was first he guess, see why Justin left this time. He slowly opened the letter and began to read.

Dear Brain,

This is hard for me to write, but I can’t marry you. I remember the day I met you like yesterday. You dancing inside of Babylon, like the king of the castle.

…wait. Brian reread that sentence. They didn’t meet inside of Babylon, it was outside. Justin tells every damn person he meets that story. Brian continued to read.

My life has been a roller-coaster since that day. Some good, some bad, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. Don’t close off your heart because of me. I remember the man with the twenty-foot wall around his heart. That night though you let me and Gus into your life and heart. You, me and Emmett running down the hospital hallway to meet your son for the first time.

He reread again. Another fact that was slightly wrong. It was him, Justin and Michael not Emmett. The feeling he had when he opened the letter had turned from numb to confused. Why would Justin write things that wasn’t true? Brian had been the stoned one, not Justin. He had a perfect memory of all these times, he would tell Brian in detail.

Please, don’t look for me. I need time to myself. One day you will find someone that loves you the way you are. I’m sorry that couldn’t be me. Tell everyone that I’m sorry. I wish you the very best.

                                                                          Love always, Justin.

P.S. Tell Zephyr sometimes Morphisto wins.

Brian reread the whole letter several times. Justin outright lied in two sentences. And what the hell was that about Morphisto? Who the hell was that? It sounded familiar but he couldn’t place it.

Grabbing his phone, he called Michael. He answered after only one ring.

“Brian, are you okay? What’s going on? Do you need me to come back over? I’m not far away.”

“Who is Morphisto?”

“Why are you asking about Morphisto?” As concerned Michael sounded just a second now he sounded pissed.

“Who is he?”

“Morphisto killed Captain Astro, don’t you remember?”

“Did you talk about him with Justin lately?”

Michael was quiet for a moment before a shuffling noise. “Yeah, we were talking about the new issue of Rage. I was telling him about not ever doing what they did with Captain Astro. I told him that Rage would always win, that no villain would ever beat him. Justin argued the fact that the villain would have to win sometimes or it wouldn’t be exciting.  

“Come back to the loft. Something isn’t right here.”

Not a few minutes later Michael was already back at his door. He guessed he hadn’t left the building.

“Read that,” Brian said handing Michael the letter.

After a moment, a confused look came over his face. Then when he finished he was pale. That was when Brian noticed Michael was shaking.

“What?” he demanded.

“We have to call Carl,” Michael said pulling his phone out of his jacket.

“What’s going on, Michael?” He was ready to throttle his best friend.

“It was a stupid conversation. When you’re collaborating on something like our comic book, you talk about weird things. One day, years ago, we talked about what we would do one of us was in danger. In one comic book, I showed him, the damsel in distress was made to write a letter to her lover. She put small clues in the letter that no one else would really notice. Justin said that that wouldn’t have someone know that she was being kidnapped by the demon Arrigo. I asked him what he would put in a letter to let the person know. It was just a silly talk. He said we should work out a code that wouldn’t be caught by anyone else. I laughed it off and said mine would be Sometimes Morphisto wins. Brian, Justin didn’t leave on his own.”

Having his suspensions verified didn’t make him feel any better. If anything, he felt like he was going to be sick. “Call Carl,” he forced out.