DEB

When I asked the question, Michael looked confused. Carl looked like he just wanted to get the hell away from my kitchen, but Ben seemed to look worried about it.

“Who’s Justin, Ben?” I ask.

“Wait, is it that little blond shit that you seemed to think would leave you alone now that he’s graduated?” Michael asks.

“He was blond.” I tell Michael.

“Did he come to the diner trying to find Ben?” Michael asks, getting worked up.

“No, I went to the loft to see Brian…”

“I hope you told Brian that it’s bullshit that he’s not calling me.” Michael interrupts me. 

“I tried but he…”

“Well since he’s at the loft I’ll go see him and make sure he knows that we don’t appreciate the bullshit he’s been pulling.” Michael tells me, taking off before I could explain anything.

Ben got up to leave but I pointed at the chair. “Sit your ass down, before I leap into the hornet's nest.” I tell him.

“Deb, I’m not one of your kids.” He tells me.

“You married mine, so yes you are, you know we’ve all been pissed at this guy Justin because of what Michael told us. I want to run right back over there, but I also want to know that I’m not going to end up looking like a complete asshole to Brian. So explain to me what Justin did that caused Michael to believe he wanted YOU.” I tell him.

“Look he was just a nice looking student that Michael seemed to get jealous over.” Ben tells me.

“Why would Michael even have a reason to get jealous over a student in your class? Normally when I suspect something it’s because someone leads me to believe something is true.” Carl tells him.

“I might have mentioned Justin once or twice before Michael ran into him.” He tell us.

“Jesus, you did it to make him jealous?” Carl asks.

“I can’t help that Michael got jealous over nothing, Justin’s a smart kid who really worked hard in school and even owned a business before graduating. I was impressed that he did everything as young as he is, so I mentioned it when we were having dinner with friends. It’s something that just shows the world that being gay didn’t make anyone less than a straight person.” He tells us.

“But that’s not all, is it? It takes more than mentioning someone to cause Michael to rant about someone.” I tell him.

“You really believe that?” Ben asks me.

“Michael’s a sweet, caring man, so yes I know that you must have caused him to believe that the kid did more.” I tell him.

“Then maybe you should go see Blake, Mel, Lindsay, or even Calvin. You might find out that Michael isn’t all the sweet, caring man you seem to think he is.” Ben tells me.

“Mel and Lindsay didn’t like the way that Michael wouldn’t let them use Brian for money. Ted doesn’t even know why Blake left, and Calvin wasn’t ready to settle down.” I tell him.

“And you help Michael with excuses, there’s more to every one of those things that you never bothered to find out. Calvin left when Michael told him that Emmett was cheating with a guy at the gym.” Ben tells me.

“Well then Emmett shouldn’t have expected to keep a boyfriend if he was cheating.” I tell him.

“The cheating happened when Ted and Emmett were together, you see, Michael tells the truth, just not exactly the way it happened.” Ben tells me.

“Why are you even with Michael?” Carl asks him.

“I love him, and for once he wasn’t running after Brian, so fucking sue me for enjoying the fact that my husband loved me more than Brian Fucking Kinney.” He tells us, getting up to leave. 

I turned when Ben stopped, and saw Emmett was standing there looking betrayed.

“Emmett…” Ben stopped when Emmett shook his head and walked out of my house.

“There you go Deb, there’s an example of what your son does to people.” He tells me.

“You think it makes you any better that you knew what Michael was doing and didn’t think to tell his friends the truth, the whole truth?” Carl asks him. “Standing by while someone commits the act makes you just as guilty.” Carl tells him.

JUSTIN

Brian and I were meeting the girls and Gus for dinner. Mel wanted to celebrate Lindsay’s new job, and thought we should all go. Gus decided that pizza and games were how to celebrate. We all decided to go to the place that had pizza and games. Mel and I sat around as Brian and Lindsay played skee ball with Gus for the tenth time. 

“There was a time when seeing that would have been hard for me.” Mel tells me.

I look over and see Gus with Lindsay helping him and Brian next to him trying to win tickets for Gus. 

“Now what do you see?” I asks her.

“I see that our son gets more love because I'm not making Brian and Lindsay’s friendship more than it is.” She tells me.

“I’d say they seem like a brother and sister, but yeah let's not put the incest in a relationship.” I tell her as we both start laughing.

“I heard you met Emmett and Ted.” She tells me.

“Well I met two guys who need to get a life.” I tell her.

“It’s kind of hard for them when they let Michael ruin the chances they had.” She tells me.

“Only the two people in a relationship can ruin it, they LET Michael do what he did, so it leaves them to only blame themselves when the relationship falls apart.” I tell her.

“So you won’t LET Michael pull the same bullshit on you?” She asks me.

“I’ve seen the other side of Michael, so it’s hard for me to see him as anything but an asshole.” I tell her.

“It’s really surprising when you do meet that part of Michael.” She tells me.

“What did you do to him?” I ask her.

“Lindsay and I convinced Brian to have a baby, that took Brian away from Mikey. It’s why I know that Brian seeing you will cause all sorts of shit to come from Michael.” She tells me.

Brian and Gus ran with Gus’s tickets while Lindsay sat down and kissed Mel. I inched away when they were going for a mature rating. Gus walked up with enough candy to give a dentist a lifelong patient and jumped in the middle of the mommies make-out session. 

EMMETT

Knowing exactly where Michael would be headed, I got a cab and showed up at Brian’s loft. I guess Brian got the locks and codes changed recently, because Michael was hitting the buzzer for every loft and they were yelling at him to leave them the fuck alone. 

“Emmett, did Brian tell you he was changing the locks?” He asks me.

“No, but lately I’m discovering all sorts of new things about my friends.” I tell him.

“Hey, call him, since he’s still being a prick and not answering me.” He tells me.

“Before I help you, can you explain to me why you told Calvin I was cheating?” I asked, wanting to rip his head off.

“What? I never told Calvin you were cheating.” He tells me.

“Ben mentioned that you told Calvin I was cheating with a guy at the gym.” I tell him.

“That’s not what I said, Calvin was looking at the guy you cheated on Ted with and I mentioned you and him have the same taste in men. That you and that guy hooked up at the gym.” He tells me.

“Then why would Ben say that you told Calvin I was cheating on him?” I ask him.

“I just mentioned that he should keep on eye on you because the guy and you hooked up.” He tells me, making it sound so innocent.

“I guess Ben just got it wrong.” I tell him. 

“Emmett why would I want to hurt you? I mean Calvin most likely felt uncomfortable around all of us, he was kind of well, just not the kind of people we like.” He tells me. “Now I need to find Brian and see why he thinks he doesn’t owe us an explanation.” He tells me. 

“He’s probably too busy with Justin to care.” I tell him, hailing a cab and driving away.

BLAKE

There was a point where having Emmett treat me like a friend was something I hoped for, but Emmett coming to me because he was sure he was going to be murdered by Brian was not how I ever saw this.

“I know I should have kept my mouth shut, but I'm sure now that Deb knows Michael was going to find out. So it's not like Brian could get pissed at me, right?” He asks. 

“I can't believe I'm going to help you.” I tell him. 

“Blake even though I never made you feel like a friend, I always did think of you that way.” He tells me, while I called Brian.

“Right now I’m happy that we weren’t.” I tell Emmett.

“Brian, Michael knows about Justin… I know you don’t care, but think about Justin… Deb went home after seeing you with Justin and asked Michael and Ben who he was… According to Emmett he didn’t stick around to find out Justin was dating you… Emmett ended up telling him, I think he figured out why Calvin broke up with him...Yeah, but you know they all live in denial when it comes to Michael… Okay I’ll see you this weekend, tell Justin I can’t wait to meet him.” I hang up to see Emmett fall on my couch staring at me.

“Is there something you want to tell me?” Emmett asks looking at my phone.

“Not really, he turned out to be a real friend when I needed him.” I tell him.

“Does Ted know about you and Brian?” He asks, almost accusing me again.

“Why would he? He was too busy kissing Michael’s ass to worry that I bought Crystal. Brian is the one that stopped me from going any further and made me talk to him. So I don’t see any reason to explain how Brian became important in my life to you or Ted, even though I just did.” I tell him.

“Brian never does anything that doesn’t benefit him.” He tells me.

“What did Brian ever do to you personally that makes you think that? Emmett I used to think you were the kind of person who gave someone a chance before you judge them. Maybe you need to stop letting Michael and Deb think for you. If this is going to turn into you saying shit about my friend, then go sit with Michael.” I tell him.

“Justin said the same thing to me when I wasn’t nice to him today, I never thought I was this person.” He tells me.

“I never did either. It’s strange that the guy you all think is selfish and self serving is the one who is likely the least of those things in your group. The ones everyone thinks are sweet and caring are really the assholes you accuse Brian of being. My advice is that you face Brian and don’t act like the reason you told Michael wasn’t anything but you being angry and wanting to see Michael hurt the way he hurt you.” I tell him.

“Do you think one day that we could try the friend thing again?” Emmett asks me.

“Not if Michael is any part of it, but I don’t tell anyone who they can be friends with.” I tell him.