Michael sat in the courtroom waiting for the verdict to be read. It had been a long year. Right from the beginning he had a bad feeling about Justin. But no one listened to him, not even his own mother. They all adored their little Sunshine. Look where that had gotten them, here praying the jury saw it for what it was. Closure.

A year ago, Justin had left Brian. No…he didn’t just leave Brian, he destroyed him. After twenty fucking years together, the little shit pulls that. Brian came home from a business trip to find the whole damn house empty. Every fucking scrape of paper was gone, even Brian’s office was cleaned out. Justin even emptied their safe. Brian had told the court that there was at least half a million in that safe.

There was only one thing left, a Woody’s matchbook. Justin’s last ‘fuck you’ to Brian. If Michael ever got his hands of Justin, he would kill him.

Michael looked up to where Brian was sitting at the defendants table. He didn’t belong there, Justin did for theft. Everyone knew that Brian bought everything in that damn place. Hell, he bought that manor for Justin fifteen years ago. Justin had left him for New York before and came back with his tail between his legs. Now Brian was on trial for burning down his own damn house.

Emmett couldn’t sit still, even with Drew on one side of him and Ted on the other. They just couldn’t find Brian guilty…they couldn’t. Everyone knew why he had done it. Sunshine had only left a matchbook in the house. So, Brian did what he did. He burned the place down to the ground. They were so far out in the country, by the time the fire department got there it was a complete loss.

He just couldn’t believe Justin had left, taking everything with him. Emmett had known that Justin had been unhappy the last year or so. But leaving Brian like that after twenty years. It was so evil, Emmett didn’t ever want to see him again.

Gus smiled wanly at his dad when he turned around. This was all so fucked up. He couldn’t believe his pop would do this. Gus had known his pop for as long as he’d known his mothers and dad. In fact, he had lived with his fathers from the ages of fifteen to eighteen. They always seemed to have a great relationship. They fought, hell they fought daily. But they would shut themselves up in their room for hours afterwards. It was like foreplay to them. His pop hadn’t even called him when he left.

He’d known that they were having some problems but he thought they would work it out. They always did. But Pop had left, taking everything they had. His dad heart was so broken, he couldn’t take the empty shell of a house. That was when he took the only thing that Justin had left him…a matchbook.

It was a miracle his father didn’t just stay in the home when it went up in flames. Gus didn’t want to think badly of his pop, but there was no other way to think. He had destroyed not only his father but their whole family. He better stay gone, no one wanted him around anymore. Not that he tried to after leaving all of them.

“Jury Foreman, have you come to a verdict?” the judge asked.

“Yes, your honor,” a petite, older woman said.

“Read your verdict?”  

“In the charge of Insurance fraud by arson, we the jury find the defendant…not guilty.”

Ted just barely could stifle a shout. They all knew Brian wasn’t guilty of that. He had called his insurance company and canceled it before he started the fire. It wasn’t his fault they were slow putting it into action. Never once had Brian tried to get insurance for it, he just wanted the damn thing gone.

“In the charge of criminally endangering the public, the jury finds the defendant…not guilty.”

Finally, Ted could breathe out, Brian was found not guilty on the two charges he was up on. One was a felony and one a misdemeanor. This whole damn mess was finally over. Brian could finally get on with his life. After Justin took off, taking everything, Brian sold the agency. Thank god that Justin had insisted on a prenup before they married when it came to the Kinnetic. Of course, that was years ago, before Justin’s heart turned to ice. If Ted ever saw him again, he would give him a piece of his mind.

After court was adjourned, they all went out to eat. A celebration. Lindsay tried not to get upset with how short Brian was being. If anyone had a right to be upset, it was Brian. After everything he had done for Justin, this is his repayment. Twenty years together and all he had left was an empty house. She would have burned it down too if it was her.

“I have an announcement,” Brian said, as they were finishing eating.

“What is it?” Lindsay asked.

“I’ve sold Kinnetic, I can’t be here anymore. I don’t know where I’m going. But I’ll call and let everyone know when I’ve settled. Right now, my plan is to get out of the country for a while.”

“You can’t. Why, Brian?” Michael asked.

“I’ll be fifty in a few weeks. Fifty. I planned to be long dead before I turned fifty. But I had Sunshine and Sonny boy. Sunshine’s gone. Sonny boy is a man now. I need to take care of myself. I have to get away.”

“We understand,” Ted said.

“I don’t,” Michael whined.

Lindsay rolled her eyes, even at fifty Michael sounded like a child.

“I get it, Brian. He betrayed all of us, but it’s nothing compared to his betrayal of you. You take all the time you need,” she said.

Brian gave her a small smile. It was then she knew this was going to be the last time she saw him. She could feel it in her bones. That was why she hugged him extra hard before her and Gus left.

His flight had been uneventful. Thankfully, no one had given him much of a fight when he left. Michael whined and bitched but he finally relented. Brian had all his money transferred to his new home. He got off the plane in Ireland. It was far away from all his troubles, away from all his ‘family’. Gus was the only one he gave a damn about left in Pittsburgh.

Pulling up the castle he purchased, he couldn’t help but smile. It was finally over. A fucking year of police, lawyers, jurors.

The place was huge, it looked cold and dark from the outside. Once he unlocked the huge double doors though, it was bright. He could hear laughing inside. He shook off his coat and hung it on the rack by the door. Ever since he was a child he wanted to live in a castle, now he had gotten his wish.

Brian had gotten a work visa to live there. He was going through paperwork to try and get citizenship because his grandfather was born in Ireland. If that didn’t work, he would just try a different way. He really didn’t feel a rush on anything.

As he started to walk further into the entryway, passing a hallway when hands covered his eyes.

“Well, who do we have here?” the sultry voice said.

“If I must remind you, I’m doing it wrong.” He turned around and picked up the dark-haired man. Lifting him up off his feet. The kiss was searing. “I’ve missed you,” he whispered in the man’s ear.

“…and I you. Finally, we can be together.”

“Where’s Justin?”

The other man gave a laugh. “Do you really want to know?”

Brian shook his head, he didn’t care. “You’ve fixed this place up real nice,” he told the dark-haired man.

“What else was I going to do? Waiting for you was so tedious.”

“Oh, I bet it was. You have some big butch guy with an Irish brogue keeping you company?”

“Of course not. You’re it for me, Brian. You know that.”

“Are you sure no one will find the body?”

“Positive, that fucker will never be found.”

Just then a dog ran into the entryway, followed by a toddler.

“He’s so big now,” Brian said, smiling at the boy.

“Yeah, he’s a terror too. Can’t do anything without him ‘helping’.”

Brian picked up the small boy. He hadn’t seen him in over a year. A year of hell, but it was all worth it. Justin was gone, Charlie and Oscar were his life now. He would never step foot in the U.S. again.

“God, I love you, Charlie,” Brian said, leaning over to kiss the man.

“Ugh, why couldn’t I pick out my own name? And I’m getting pretty tired of dying my hair.”

“I can’t call you Justin, now can I? If Oscar picks up on that name, if they ever find Johnny’s body, you’re going to be the first one they look for.”

Justin rolled his eyes. “You burned down the damn house Brian, nothing can be gotten from there now. Nothing had blood on it but the floor, and you got rid of everything in the bedroom anyway. I cleaned the floor, the fire took care of anything left. Trust me when I tell you, John’s body will NEVER be found.”

He really hated the name Charlie. He was thirty-nine for crying out loud. Charlie was the name of a child. “Why couldn’t I be Oscar?”

“Because you still look like you’re twenty-five. Oscar’s are only toddlers and old men. You get to be Charlie.”

Oscar seemed to be enjoying the conversation, that or that there was another person in the place besides them. Justin and Oscar had lived there for a year already. Brian had gotten them both fake identities. He didn’t know how, and didn’t want to know. Everything they had done, they had done because of love. Love for each other and love for Oscar.

Almost two years ago, Brian’s nephew had shown up on their doorstep with his newborn son. He begged for a place to stay. Brian had said, absolutely not. For one, they had just gotten Gus off to college. For another, he hated John for his lies when he was young. But Justin had convinced him to let him move in, he couldn’t turn the baby away.

Brian was all John had of his family anymore. Joan died over ten years ago. Claire committed suicide after getting news about her youngest son’s death. Peter had died in action. He was a hero, saving his fellow soldiers. But John was a piece of shit.

After they let him move in, they noticed things starting to go missing. Justin had called Oscar’s mother, he wanted her to come get him so he could kick out John, she didn’t want him though. Told them that John could do whatever the hell he wanted with him. Oscar’s birth name was Prowler. These people named their beautiful baby Prowler.

But Justin still had hope he could help John became a better person. They had already called Mel, who was divorced from Lindsay, to see if they could get custody of the baby. She said unless they could prove he was an unfit father, they didn’t have a chance. Justin couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was something majorly wrong with John.  

Brian had been at work when it all came to a head. Justin was sleeping in his and Brian’s room. Oscar was sleeping in the bassinet in the room with him. John didn’t like the baby waking him up. It was still really early in the morning. When he felt the bed dip and hands on his hip, he thought Brian had forgotten something. Hands roughly pushed him on his stomach. He was then able to finally see the face, it wasn’t Brian but John.

While Justin was older, he was still smaller. John was the same height as Brian but was wider…muscles and fat. But Justin wouldn’t stay on his stomach, he saw the look in John’s eyes. He would never let the vile man touch him that way, he’d rather die. John was only six years younger than him, but Justin had been too easy on him. Brian had been right, they shouldn’t have let him move in. Justin bit, scratched and fought. Finally, he got the upper hand. He reached over and grabbed Brian’s award he had won the previous week. Brian was still in the gloating stage of beating VanGuard…again.

Justin swung the award, hitting John in the temple. It stunned him but Justin kept hitting him, body going on overdrive. The room looked like a bloodbath afterwards. He went to call the police but stopped. Looking at John, it looked like those crime shows were the person planned the murder. It was clear John was dead now, his skull was bashed in. He had bashed someone’s head in. The thought had him panicking. That was his only excuse for cleaning up the blood and burning the sheets. He took the baby with him when he disposed of John’s body.

When Brian got home a little after midnight, he confessed what he had done. Brian had acted immediately, he made some calls, getting Justin and the baby new identities. The next morning Brian rented a moving van. They packed up everything that John touched in the room. Brian took the stuff away, had it burned, where Justin didn’t know. Brian hadn’t wanted Justin to risk going through a trial, it was too risky that he would be found guilty after getting rid of the body and cleaning the site.

Then Justin called professional movers, Brian picked Ireland because they had gotten the castle earlier in the year. It was supposed be turned into a hotel, but they needed it now. Everything was shipped to Ireland. That was the last day Justin Taylor and Prowler Kinney existed. Brian flew to Boston on a business trip, so he when he told them Justin left and took everything it was believable.

Charlie and Oscar flew to Ireland, with their passports they could enter the country. There they applied for visas. He had gotten a work visa a few weeks later. He worked in an art gallery a little outside Wexford.

“Won’t you tell me where Justin went?” Brian asked, nuzzling his neck.

“Well, the last letter Justin sent to his mother, he was in France with a hot Frenchman named Antoine.”

“Wow, is he hung?”

Justin laughed. “I sure hope so, don’t want Justin to be disappointed.”

After John’s death, he had tons of guilt. Brian couldn’t help him because the next day he had to leave. They had agreed to not talk until Brian could come to them. So, for the last year he had been working on himself. He knew what he had done was justified. Because of his brain injury his mind doesn’t work the same as others. So, he did what he did. That was his mistake, Brian hadn’t judged him. He said that they would just have a new start. They couldn’t tell the family because they would as too many questions about Oscar. It was just them now, and he couldn’t be happier. His soul was finally at peace for what had happened with John.

“I hope you’re hungry,” Charlie said. “We were just about to have dinner.”

“Famished.” Brian was leering at him.

“I meant for food.”

Brian smiled at him, lifting Oscar up higher. “I guess, I could eat food if I must. No peas.”

“No peas!” Oscar wholeheartedly agreed.

The End.