JUSTIN

I brought Emmett with me to Alex’s house to entertain Grant while Alex and I worked. 

“So I keep Grant from running in and out like Gus?” Emmett asks me.

“Pretty much, he gets bored when he’s waiting for Alex and I to get done. So he tends to try to help when he gets bored and we end up taking twice the time to finish.” I tell him.

“So I got volunteered to entertain him?” Emmett asks me.

“No, I’m under the impression that this was Dan and Brian’s way of making sure I wasn’t alone on the way.” I tell him.

“Well yeah, but you can keep pretending you don’t have two God’s wanting to protect your ass, if it will keep your pride in check.” He tells me.

“Sorry. It’s just hard to see why they’re worried about me when it’s Ben Michael is doing everything too.” I tell him, pulling in.

“It’s always about Brian with Michael. I think they just want a witness if Michael tries anything on you.” He tells me.

“And that I could understand.” I tell him opening the door. 

We got to the pool and Alex was coming out of the water. I turned to introduce Emmett to Alex. “Emmett, hello Emmett.” I waved my hands in Emmett’s face. “Hello, you still with me?” I ask as I turn Emmett’s face to me.

“What?” Emmett asks, looking at Alex again.

“Hi, you’re here to distract Grant for us?” Alex asks.

“What?” Emmett asks again.

“Alex, Emmett.” I tell him, worried when Emmett seems to be in his own world.

“Nice to meet you.” Alex tells him, holding out his hand.

“Very nice to meet a friend of Justin’s.” Emmett tells him, shaking Alex’s hand.

“Well, we need to get to work, so have fun with Grant.” I tell Emmett.

EMMETT

“Okay, calm down boy, he’s not interested.”

“Who not interested?” Grant asks me, sitting on the float next to me. “Cause you're hot, but I’m kind of still getting over losing Brian to Justin.” He tells me.

“If it helps, Brian wouldn’t have been interested in you. You would have chased him, and he’s had enough men chasing him. Although I have no idea how Justin met Brian, but I have a feeling he made Brian work for it.” I tell him.

“Justin really thought it was just a trick, until Brian showed up in Orlando. Then it was like Brian was spending every second he could with Justin. They just fit each other.” He tells me.

“They do, Brian is more open around him. Brian has always tended to block anyone when they try to get close to him, but Justin seems to have a way of breaking through.” I tell him.

“Justin never gives anyone a reason to hide things from him. He doesn’t make judgements until he knows the whole person.” Grant tells me.

“I always thought I was like that, until I met Justin. Then I realized I was letting my friendship with Michael change who I was.” I tell him.

“Bullshit, one thing my dad taught me is that no one makes you do anything. You have free will, only you can choose what you do.” He tells me.

“I chose to believe a friend, one who I didn’t want to believe was a bully.” I tell him.

“That guy is worse than a bully, he was always trying to find Justin. I don’t care what the school said, there was something really wrong with Michael.” Grant tells me.

“Grant, if Justin wants Emmett to know, he’ll tell him. Justin’s ready for you to debug the program. Go on in.” Alex tells him.

“That’s the most passionately I’ve ever heard someone talk about anything.” I tell Alex, when Grant went in.

“Justin means a lot to Grant. Grant was lost for a while and Justin and Daphne helped him find his way back.” He tells me.

“What happened? I mean, you don’t have to tell me, just curious.” I tell him.

“He met his mother, and she wasn’t what he thought she’d be. I think he expected her to be like all the stories where she regretted not being there for him. What he found was that she was happy with her life without Grant. She was nice, but she isn’t ever going to be the one baking cookies and kissing the boo boo’s. He did what all kids do when a parent disappoints them, he acted out. Only he ended up meeting Justin, who’d lost his whole family and didn’t let it become the only thing that mattered. Justin showed Grant how to be happy with what he had, when Justin had lost everyone.” He tells me.

“You respect that don’t you?” I ask.

“Why wouldn’t you respect someone who didn’t piss and whine, but got off his ass and worked for everything they have?” He asks me.

“Brian did that too.” I tell him.

“Which is why he and Justin will do well together. I only hope to find love like that someday.” He tells me.

“Too bad, I wouldn’t mind showing you.” I tell him.

“Why too bad?” He asks, as he gets up to walk in.

“Your straight, right?” I ask.

“I’m not into labels, it depends on the person.” He tells me.

DAN

Walter, the DA, met me at the house. We were waiting on Carl and Michael to arrive. Carl pulled up and had to pull Michael out of the car. I saw the minute the show started. 

“Why is he limping?” I ask.

“Why the fuck is this guy here?” Michael asks.

“You remember me, I’m honored.” I tell him.

“He’s that little shit’s guard dog, I don’t want him near me.” Michael tells them.

“He’s also your husband’s attorney. We wanted to make sure that we did this walk through once.” Walter tells him.

“I’m just not sure I can handle seeing what Ben did right now.” Michael tells him, looking wounded.

“Michael, we agreed to get this over with.” Walter tells him.

“I won’t do it, my doctor said that I shouldn’t do anything that could cause even more emotional trauma.” He tells us, tearing up.

“Well how about answering a few questions?” I ask him.

“Read the report, it’s self explanatory.” He tells me.

“I tried, but I found the story you told a bit unbelievable. Ben picked you up and threw you, but nothing in the medical file shows bruises on your back or any damage in areas that would have hit the counter. One other thing.” I tell him, running to his porch and screaming once I’m at the door.

“What are you doing?” Walter asks, when I stopped.

“Look around tell me what you see.” I tell him.

Every neighbor was out the door or looking at the house. 

“According to Michael, Ben was screaming at him and yet not one of these people came to see what’s going on?” I ask as two guys walk over to Michael.

“We were in the house.” Michael sneers.

“Excuse me, but could you go back in your house?” I ask the neighbor.

“Why?” He asks.

“I need to know, if someone had a fight next door could you hear it?” I ask him.

“Of course, the women who lived there before used to fight all the time. We all heard it.” He tells me.

“I was trying not to attract attention.” Michael tells us.

“You accused Ben of trying to almost kill you, but you didn’t want to attract attention?” Carl asks.

“I can’t stay here with everyone staring at me.” Michael tells us, walking to the car.

“Michael, when Ben had you on the ground and was trying to strangle you, how did you get away?” I ask.

“I managed to push him off me, I don’t remember how.” He tells me.

“But you remember it happening?” I ask, looking at his report.

“Of course, it’s in there.” He tells me pointing at the paperwork.

“No. It actually isn’t, I just made that up, the way you made this up. Here, learn to read what you write.” I tell him, shoving it in his hand.

“I must have been confused, it’s hard to remember everything.” He tells me.

“Okay, how about telling me exactly how you broke your arm on the counter. How far away was Ben and how did he actually do it? You seemed to not be able to describe it well in that report.” I tell him.

“He yanked my hand from the door and then… um, he threw me across the kitchen at the wall, and when I tried to get up he slammed my arm on the counter.” He tells me.

“What door?” I ask him.

“The back door, obviously” He tells me.

“The one on the other side of the house, Ben managed to throw you all the way across the house to your kitchen wall, which is a window?” Carl growls.

“I must have hit the wall before the kitchen.” He tells Carl.

“Or Michael decided to write fiction, and not a very good one. Call me if this gets past your trash can.” I tell Walter.

BEN

Brian was sitting in my office when I walked in, instead of ordering him out of the office I sat down.

“I don’t have anything to say to you. I’ll thank you for the help, but otherwise I don’t think there is anything we have to talk about.” I tell him.

“Why did you pick Justin?” He asks me.

“What are you talking about?” I ask.

“Out of all the students here, why him?” He asks.

“I didn’t intend to use Justin at all, but when I mentioned him and the things he’d achieved, it seemed to get Michael’s attention. I didn’t see the harm in it, Michael was never supposed to meet Justin.” I tell him.

“But when Michael did, you loved the jealousy so much that you let an innocent student deal with it?” He ask.

“All he had to deal with was Michael running his mouth.” I tell him.

“And destroying his art work, helping Justin’s fucking stalker, and making his life harder than it already was. That’s what you're ‘harmless idea’ did to Justin. Justin had no one to turn to because your ‘harmless idea’ had the school believing Justin was causing his own issues. I guess when the attorney who is about to bail your ass out of your newest problem handed them the restraining order, it made them have to deal with it, since you thought it was harmless. I almost want to tell Dan to let you deal with Michael’s idea of harmless. You’d only end up in jail, not really that bad right?” He asks.

“What Michael is doing is the same thing.” I tell him weakly.

“No it’s not, because it’s about getting my attention, instead of yours. Attention that you crave but seems to only be centered on me. What you never understood was that I would never give Michael what he wants, so you never needed to use Justin for the only attention Michael will ever give you. The leftovers of a relationship he wished for, but would never have gotten from me. The fact that Justin helped you when he had every reason not to, should tell you that the kind of person you used, didn’t deserve the shit you dealt him.” He tells me.

“I was never the kind of person who would do what I did, until Michael.” I tell him.

“Yes you were, you just hid it until it couldn’t stay hidden. We all have a part of us that we hide from the world, but it never stays in the closet forever.” He tells me.

“What’s in your closet?” I ask.

“When I love, I will do absolutely anything to keep the person I love from people like you and Michael. Don’t come near the ones I love, you won’t like my agenda.” Brian tells me, leaving.