At some point while Brian and I were kissing, I had lost my hat and coat. I didn't mind one bit because I was more than warmed up.

"You talk way too much sometimes," Brian murmured against my lips.

"I'm sorry... I just-"

"Shut up, Justin."

We continued to make out for several long, sumptuous minutes until the rude sound of Brian's cell phone playing Van Halen's "Eruption" ruined the beautiful moment.

It was Brian's lawyer calling for a meeting to discuss his suspension, due to a last minute cancelation freeing up his calendar that afternoon.

Brian drove me home, giving me a very quick kiss before practically shoving me out of the Jeep. He promised to email me later to let me know how the meeting went.

I puttered around the house for the rest of the day, periodically checking my email. Daphne brought me my assignments before dinner and nearly screamed when she saw my black eye. She used some very colorful and unladylike language during a rant against Hobbs, which earned her a warm hug and kiss from me. I was very happy to have her back on my side.

My mother and I had a talk about her financial future after she had come home that evening. It was going to take a few months for her to become a licensed realtor, since she had to take some classes and pass an exam beforehand. In the meantime, things were going to be tight within our household. My father was apparently being a total dick to her with their divorce proceedings, proposing that they sell the house, split the profits evenly, and have her move into a cheaper home with me and Molly. He was also trying to get out of paying her alimony and for her legal fees, despite the fact that he had all the money and was the one who had fucked around and destroyed their marriage.  

Brian finally sent me a very short email at nearly nine o'clock that night saying that his lawyer was able to set up a meeting with the school board on Tuesday at 10 AM. I sent him a reply asking if his lawyer had any idea what his chances were in having his suspension overturned, but he did not get back to me. I contemplated calling but did not want to annoy him.

Following a rather sleepless night, I got up the next morning and asked my mother to drop me off at the diner after taking Molly to school. Although she was adamant that I not work while I was still in high school, I insisted on trying to find a part-time job to help her make ends meet. I had remembered seeing a "part-time help wanted" sign in the window when I was there the previous morning.

I walked into the diner around 8 AM. It was very busy with every seat filled. I managed to catch Debbie, who was nearly frantic in trying to keep the hungry homos happy. I soon found myself wearing an apron and bussing tables, Debbie having immediately hired me after I had inquired about the job. I had been unaware that she was actually the manager of the place. She was so happy that I was free to start immediately that she didn't even interview me.

I was sweeping the floor after the morning breakfast rush had died down when Brian walked in. Although he normally looked like a million bucks, he was looking rather rough that morning. His hair was a mess and his eyes were heavy. He sat down at a booth and began to look at a menu.

I walked over to him and asked, "Are you okay?"

He jumped as he looked up at me, as I was clearly the last person he expected to see at that moment. "Jesus, what the fuck are you doing here, and in an apron?"

Debbie suddenly appeared at my side and put an arm across my shoulders. "He's saving my ass is what he's doing here. Say hello to the Liberty Diner's newest employee."

"Hello," Brian grumbled.

"Why the fuck aren't you at work?" Debbie asked him.

"I figured Mikey would have told you by now, or at least this talkative little shit," Brian said, pointing at me.

Debbie gasped. "Did you get fired? What the fuck happened? Did they find out about the two of you?"

"I'm on paid suspension, I broke up the fight that produced his black eye, which is against school policy, and no," Brian answered, counting each of his answers on his fingers. "Hopefully, I'll be reinstated next week."

She looked between the two of us, more questions on her tongue. Fortunately, the cook rang the order bell.

"I'd better hear the whole story later," Debbie said before turning to pick up some plates from the window.

"Hey!" Brian yelled at her. "Are you ever going to take my order? The food's terrible, but this is a fucking restaurant!"

I brought the cranky man a cup of coffee and sat across from him. "What happened to you last night? You look like shit."

"I slept in my office at the club," Brian said as he poured way too much sugar into his coffee.

"Why?"

"Because I was too fucked up to drive home."

I sighed. "I really wish you would take better care of yourself, what with your drinking and all the drugs you take. I worry about you."

"Thanks Mom, but I'm fine," he snarled.

Debbie returned a few seconds later, order pad in hand. "Alright, alright. What would you like, Mr. Wonderful? Let me guess: two eggs up, dry wheat toast, and half a grapefruit?"

Brian tapped his nose and pointed at her.

"Back to work, Sunshine," she said to me before walking away to put in his order.

Brian ate his breakfast and left without saying goodbye.

Debbie and I sat at a table in the small break room off of the kitchen around 2 PM.

"You did a great job today, kiddo," she said.

I shrugged. "All I did was clean tables and refill coffee cups."

"Well, it's an important job. I can't serve people when the tables are piled up with dirty dishes. Maybe soon you can start serving, which is where the tips roll in. I know you have school to worry about, but you can work up to twenty hours a week whenever you're available."

"Thank you so much," I said. "I can't go back to school until next Tuesday, so my schedule is basically free until then."

"I won't expect you to be here tomorrow. I'm sure your family has Thanksgiving plans. I'm taking the day off, myself."

"Actually no, I really don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow. My parents are getting divorced right now, so it's kind of awkward at our house."

"Oh, Sunshine," Debbie said, placing a hand on my arm. "That's terrible."

"My little sister is spending the day with our father and Mom will be volunteering at a homeless shelter. I'll probably just sit at the house and watch movies all day."

"No you won't, because you'll be coming to my house for Thanksgiving," she announced.

"I will?"

"You sure will. My brother and I always have a great big feast, so there will be plenty to fill you up."

Debbie gave me her address and instructed me to be there at one o'clock sharp, bringing nothing but my appetite.

Just like that, I found myself figuratively adopted by Debbie Novotny.

I was just about to call my mother to come and pick me up when I was informed by Kiki the transgendered waitress that I had a phone call.

"Hello?" I said into the phone, assuming that it was my mother struck by telepathy.

"What time do you get off?" Brian asked me.

"About five minutes ago."

"I'm coming to pick you up."

He hung up before I was able to respond.

I called my mother to let her know that I had been hired part-time at the diner and would be home later that evening, saying that I had dinner plans. She was happy that I had found a job so quickly and told me to have fun on my "date with Emmett." I did not correct her.

Brian pulled up in front of the building a few minutes later, AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" blaring out of the sound system.

"Is it cool if I take a shower at your place?" I yelled over the music. "I smell like a fried egg."

"Where we're going, your stench will fit in," he said.

"And where is that?"

"To pay my respects to Jack Kinney. You not-so-subtly reminded me in class the other day that I haven't exactly been taking his death all that great, as if I don't haveenough on my plate right now with this Hobbs debacle. I ought to give the old fuck a proper send off and be done with it."

Brian drove us to a bowling alley a few blocks away from his mother's house. He stripped off his leather jacket before we went inside revealing a bowling shirt that said "Eastway Kings" on the back, which I recalled was the name of Jack's bowling team. Jack's name was stitched on the chest. He also grabbed Jack's bowling bag from the back of the Jeep.

"I'm really not a good bowler," I confessed as we walked in the door. "I haven't been since I was a kid."

"You're still a kid," Brian reminded me.

I chuckled. "Since I was a much younger kid."

He paid for our rental shoes and one game for each of us. It was fairly packed, and the lane they put us on was right next to where several middle-aged guys were playing.

While I picked out a ball, Brian put our names on the scoring machine, having me go first.

I waited to throw my ball while one of the old guys threw his. He got a strike and gave me a sneering grin.

"Let's see what you're made of, Sunshine," Brian said, giving me a firm swat on my ass.

"Don't break a nail, Princess," the obviously-straight guy who threw the strike snarked.

Ignoring them, I proceeded to throw my ball directly into the gutter and almost fell on my face, causing the old guys beside us to burst out laughing.

"Fucking fruitcake!" one of them called out.

"Alright... heteros one, homos nothing," Brian conceded to the old guys.

My next roll was also a gutter ball, but I managed to stay upright that time.

"I told you I sucked," I said to Brian as I walked back to the seating area.

"I plan on having you demonstrate just how much you suck later," Brian loudly announced as he went to take his turn.

Oh my...

He then threw a strike, his throwing form absolutely perfect. I couldn't help but jump up and scream in excitement.

Brian turned around, threw his arms up in victory, and stuck out his tongue. "That's right!" he yelled to the straight guys. "The fucking fairies got a strike! The fucking fairies got a strike! The fucking fairies are jumping up and down!"

I hopped over to him and wrapped my arms around his neck. "That was awesome!"

"The fucking fairies are gonna celebrate," Brian said before dipping me and giving me a huge kiss for everyone in that bowling alley to see.

We finished our game - Brian scoring 225 to my attrocious 38 - and left. It was nearly dark out by that point.

"That was all around embarrassing," I said once we were back in the Jeep.

"You... certainly have room for improvement," Brian said, rolling in his lips. "Combined together, we did pretty damned good."

"I bet your dad used to take you bowling all the time," I said.

"You bet wrong. He only took me a few times over the years, and I think I did even worse than you did today the last time he took me. One of my friends in college was on a team and he taught me how to play properly."

I ran a finger down his bare right forearm. "So... are we going back to the loft? You can wash the bacon grease out of my hair."

"We have a stop to make first."

Brian drove us to his mother's house and parked.

"Are we going inside to see your mother?"

"Fuck no," he said as he got out and grabbed the bowling bag from the back seat.

I also got out and watched him as he took the ball out of the bag. He held the ball out in front of him for a few seconds before rolling it down the street. It clattered down the pavement and soon disappeared from view.

Brian threw his arms up and called out, "So long, Jack... you son of a bitch."

He turned around and caught my eyes, staring at me with a hard glare. I almost feared that he was going to give me a second black eye before he grabbed me in a tight hug.

We stood in the middle of the dark street, the cold wind blowing around us. He was shaking and I soon realized he was crying into my shoulder. I held onto him tightly, thinking for several seconds of something to say to him, but kept my mouth shut.