The Queen Out
Julesmonster


Justin, Brian and Ted sat at Emmett's table eating brunch while they watched Emmett's boyfriend, Thad—short for Thaddeus—storm out of the apartment muttering curses under his breath the entire way. He paused at the door and turned back. "Don't think I'm ever coming back! I'm so through with you Emmett Honeycutt!"

"Fine! Good! I don't want you here anyway!" Emmett threw his shoe at the man to make his point clear. It landed with a thud after bouncing off the door jamb. Thad—short for Thaddeus—glared at all of them before turning and leaving, slamming the door behind him on the way out.

Justin, Brian and Ted continued to watch their friend as he began to flit around the apartment, picking up the thrown shoe, righting the lamp that had been knocked over in the heat of the argument, and then finally turned to the stereo.

Brian and Ted both groaned, but it was Brian who spoke first. Surprisingly, he kept his voice low, as though he was reluctant to interrupt the show that was about to begin. "That's just great. He's started the playlist."

"What playlist?" Justin whispered back to the two men. "Shouldn't one of us go talk to him? He's got to be upset after a scene like that one."

"The scene is just beginning," Ted advised the younger man. "Watch and learn."

The music started and Justin immediately recognized the song: (Everything I Do) I Do It for You by Bryan Adams. Emmett sang along with the music and Justin was surprised to see that he picked up a picture of himself and Thad—short for Thaddeus—from their vacation to Vermont last fall and smile fondly at it.

"Um, Em?" Justin said out loud, despite the shushing of his lover and Ted. "Are you okay?"

Emmett dusted off the photo frame and set it back on the shelf before turning to Justin. He gave the blond a serene smile. His voice, when he spoke, was at least an octave higher than it should be and overly bright. "I'm just fine. Don't worry Thad"—short for Thaddeus—"will be back before you know it. Eat up! There's plenty of fruit salad and quiche left for seconds. Oh, and the croissants!"

Emmett rushed to pull the rest of the croissants from their bakery box and set them neatly on the plate before his friends. "There! Go on, Justin. Eat. I know how hungry you get."

Justin nodded dumbly and took another helping of quiche just to get Emmett to leave him alone. He was scary like this.

When he saw Justin take a bite of his food, Emmett went back to the sitting area and sang along with the music while gently touching every memento of his time with Thad—short for Thaddeus. When the song was almost over, however, Ted leaned over and whispered to Justin.

"You know the five stages of grief?" Ted asked very quietly. Justin nodded. "That was Denial."

"Oh."

The music changed and You Oughta Know by Alanis Morrisette came on. Ted continued to explain. "See, now he's getting into the Anger stage. He stays there for two songs. Just watch out for flying objects. And don't let your guard down."

Sure enough, by the time Alanis was screaming about going down on some guy in a theater, Emmett was throwing the same mementos he had lovingly caressed moments before across the room towards the fireplace. Glass shattered and wood splintered and Ted and Justin ducked once or twice, but Brian ignored the flying objects in favor of reading his email on his iphone. Emmett wouldn't dare hit him with anything, even in the midst of his most dramatic queen-out.

And then the music changed again and Kelly Clarkson began belting out Since You've Been Gone. Brian looked up in time to see Emmett at the fireplace with matches and hit Ted on the shoulder and pointed. Ted rose very calmly and took the matches from Emmett before he could light anything on fire, but then returned to his seat to wait out the storm. Justin was amazed that he kept eating as though nothing was going on around him, and Brian had now moved on to playing some game on his phone.

The next song, Justin didn't recognize and looked to Brian for an explanation. The brunet looked up from his game long enough to answer, "All by Myself by Eric Carmen. He's at the Bargaining stage."

Sure enough, Emmett was on his knees, singing to some higher power at the top of his queenly voice. Justin thought he sounded a lot like the cat that had been in heat in the alley a couple weeks ago, but he looked sincere in his petition. The wringing of his hands was especially moving, but Justin thought the tearing of his shirt was a little over the top.

They were all a bit relieved for the breather when Depression hit. The Bee Gees quietly sang How Can You Mend a Broken Heart and Emmett curled up on the sofa with a box of tissues and sobbed his heart out. Justin was a little concerned with just how long and loud he was crying—the phrase weeping and wailing had never meant much to him before now—but he was leery of interrupting the cycle after the scary Denial moments. Besides, there was only one stage left, Acceptance. How bad could that be?

Justin soon found out. No More Tears (Enough is Enough) by Barbara Streisand and Donna Summers came on and Justin almost groaned. He hated that song more than life itself. Brian, who, knew Justin's feelings on the selection sniggered quietly and set aside his phone to watch the final stage of the show.

It started with Emmett slowly cleaning himself up, tossing the wads of tissue into the wastebasket and then straightening his clothes as much as he was able with a torn shirt. By the first chorus, he was humming along as he cleared away all evidence of his earlier tantrum. By the second chorus, he was dancing with his broom and sweeping up the shards of glass. And when that song ended—finally, thank god!—Justin was actually prepared for the next song. After all, what queer doesn't listen to Gloria Gaynor after a break up?

In fact, they were all soon dancing and singing along with the diva. Even Brian, who had taken Justin into his arms so that they could grind their way through the unofficial national gay anthem. For a moment, Justin thought of Vic, who would have been at his prime when this song was released, and the other gay men who had paved the way for them… But then Brian moved in just the right way to make Justin forget his own name, let alone anything else.

When the last strains of the epic song ended, they all looked at each other and began to laugh. It was a cathartic laugh that released all the tension that had built in the apartment over the last hour or so.

Once they had settled back down and taken their seats at the table, Emmett turned to his friends with a smile. "So ladies…Who's up for a day at the spa? Now that Thad"—short for Thaddeus—"is gone, I could do with a mani-pedi. And maybe a facial."

"Ted could use the facial," Brian said. "Take him with you."

"Brian," Justin said and gave his lover a significant look.

"Oh, all right, Princess," Brian huffed. "We'll go too. I suppose a massage wouldn't kill me."

As they were leaving the apartment, Brian turned to Justin and said, "Promise me that you will never queen out like that."

Justin snorted. "I don't think I could queen out like that. Besides, it won't ever be an issue since I'm never letting you go."

Brian snorted, but pulled his blond a little closer to his side.

The End