JUSTIN 

I swear, coffee is cursed, one freaking cup seems to bring assholes out of their hiding places. Of course Ben isn't Michael, so maybe it's not as bad as it could be.

“Justin, I know you would rather not talk to me but I need to tell you I'm sorry.” He tells me. 

“I've always held apologies as an out for people who weren't really sorry for anything. It's not doing things that you will have to apologize for that matters. Now if you really want to make it up to me, go away.” I tell him. 

“Just tell Brian I don't need him warning me.” He tells me, leaving. 

“Was that Ben?” Lindsay asks, coming out.

“Yes, and I guess Brian felt the need to protect me.” I tell her, pissed.

“Justin, it's how Brian is.” She tells me, stopping me.

“I don’t need him to fight for me.” I tell her. 

“Everyone needs someone to love them the way he loves you.” She tells me. 

“I won’t be the guy who hides while everyone fights for me.” I tell her. 

“Will you listen to me, you don’t have to agree, just listen?” She asks. “If someone was doing something to hurt Brian, would you do everything you could to protect him?” She asks. 

“Yes.” 

“Sometimes it isn’t about you, but how he’s feeling. The people he once called friends, hurt you. It took him this long to say anything to Ben, he normally wouldn’t have waited.” She tells me.

“So I shouldn’t be pissed that he pulled what Dan did?” I ask her.

“Sure, but understand that if the situation was reversed, could you say you wouldn’t have done the same thing?” She asks me.

“No, not if they were people I knew.” I tell her.

“So can we go back to the office and forget what Ben seemed like he was really here to do.” She tells me.

“Why do you think Ben was here?” I ask her.

“To see if he could jab Brian one more time. He can’t seem to see that the fault lies in himself.” She tells me.

I thought about what she said, and yes, I could see why Brian would want to piss all over Ben. With that thought in mind, I didn’t show my ass, much.

“Ben wanted to apologize.” I tell him.

“I told him to leave you alone.” He tells me.

“Really, that’s so sweet of you to learn all the things I hated that Dan did.” I tell him, smiling.

“I also left you a voicemail telling you I was going there to straighten Ben’s shit out. Did you forget to charge your phone?” He tells me smirking.

“You suck, and yes I forgot.” I tell him.

“I know, so I charged it while it sat in my office for the last two days.” He tells me.

“So you knew I wouldn’t get the message.” I tell him.

“You would, just not in time to stop me.” He tells me.

“Well I can stop you from taking a shower with me now.” I tell him, running to the bathroom and locking the door.

“This is childish, and I have the key.” He tells me, unlocking the door.

“I didn’t need a shower anyway.” I tell him, trying to get past him into his bedroom.

“I think you do, all that anger must have worked up a sweat.” He tells me pulling me in behind him.

“I will not shower with the King, for I am not worthy.” I tell him stripping and getting in.

“It’s fine if you want to worship on your knees.” He tells me.

“How about I…”

BRIAN

“What? Don’t stop now.” I tell him, then see him looking at my bedroom. “What?” I whisper.

“I think I just saw Michael.” He whispers.

I grabbed towels and threw my phone to Justin. I walked into the bedroom and then out to the living room. It was when I looked at my door that I realized it was open. 

“How the hell did he get in here?” Justin asks.

“Good question, since the locks were changed, and the codes.” I tell him.

“Could someone have let him in?” Justin asks me.

“I don’t know, but I think I’ll go find out. Go to your house and wait. I don’t want you dealing with Deb and Michael tonight.” I tell him.

“Brian.” Justin growls.

“This is about me, not you, and being able to come home to you will make it better.” I tell him.

“You turned my own words on me, good job. Don’t be long.” He tells me, picking up his things.

“Are you going to get pissed when I call someone to hang out with you?” I ask him.

“I’ll call Dan, since it’s like I’m with him all over again. Of course, the fact that I love you enough not to break up with you makes it different.” He tells me.

“I told you, you just didn’t get the messages. When you get home, listen to them.” I tell him.

JUSTIN

Dan showed up, giving me a wide berth, he knew this mood. I didn’t say anything but retrieved the messages that I hadn’t gotten. The first was Brian telling me that he was going to tell Ben to stay away. I hit delete. 

“Possibly you’re pissed at me and I won’t say sorry for what I did, because I’m not sorry for telling Ben exactly how I feel about him using you. He needs to know that he can’t fuck with my future and not hear what I think. He needs to understand that being married doesn’t mean being blind to what your spouse does, but then, when I marry you one day, I don’t have to worry you’d be anything like Michael.” The second message ended.

“So he’s planning the wedding?” Dan asks, going through my cabinets.

“What are you doing?” I ask him.

“I’m hungry, you guys call when I’m dreaming of food.” He tells me.

“Will you ever learn to cook anything?” I ask him.

“No, that’s why I date so much, they always tell me things they could cook for me. I make them prove it.” He tells me.

“That explains so much about our relationship, I was saving you from take-out.” I tell him, grabbing bread and eggs.

“Campfire toast, really? I’m defending the POS and I get egg cooked into toast.” He asks me.

“No dimwit, I thought I’d give you juice too.” I tell him, buttering the bread and pinching the hole, before cracking the egg on the bread.

“You want to know one of the things about you that I didn’t like?” He asks me.

“You mean I wasn’t perfect in every way?” I ask.

“You were far from perfect, I just loved you enough to overlook the things that I didn’t like.” He tells me. “You never understood that I wasn’t viewing you as weak when I did things. It was about me being angry that someone hurt the person I was in love with.” He tells me.

“I know why he did it, but I can’t always help how I feel about things. Maybe because I love him in a way I’ve never loved anyone, I’m dealing with this better than I would have if it had been anyone else.” I tell him, hoping Dan isn’t hurt by this. 

“Justin, I love you, but you aren’t the person who is right for me, and I accept that and only wish the best for you and Brian. I’ll always be there when you need me. I’ll always be there, but as what we are, friends.” He tells me.

BRIAN

Michael was waiting in front of the house when I pulled up, he smiled as if I did what he wanted.

“You finally came to see me, I knew you would.” He tells me.

“How did you get in the loft?” I ask, not letting him touch me.

“Brian, I’ve always been allowed to come and go when I want. You never cared.” He tells me.

“How?” I ask him.

“I took Lindsay’s key when I went to find out why you hadn’t come to see me. I don’t understand how you could ignore that I needed you to help me through this. It’s been awful, and that asshole that Justin got to defend Ben made it sound like I made it up. I need you to be there for me.” He tells me.

“Give me the key.” I tell him.

“He broke my arm, God was this what your father did to you? I never realized what you went through until it happened to me. Now it’s like we have another thing in common.” He tells me. “It’s something no one would understand until it happens to them.” He tells me.

“No one could, unless it really happened to them.” I tell him.

“You see, it means that we need to be together, because I can understand why you couldn’t love anyone for years.” He tells me, coming towards me.

“I couldn’t love anyone because I didn’t, and what you did to yourself makes me want you as far away from me as possible. You know what, keep the key, I don’t trust you that you didn’t make more.” I tell him.

“Brian, I won’t let him have what should have been mine. You don’t get to love someone else when I waited all my life for you to love me and only me.” He screams.

“Michael?” Deb comes out, staring at him.

“I’ll make sure Ben gets punished for this if you walk away.” He sneers.

“Michael, stop.” Deb tells him.

“Brian loves me, and I won’t let some asshole who didn’t do anything to deserve him, get what I want and deserve. I’ll make what Chris and I did to Justin before look like child’s play if you continue this farce.” He yells at both of us.

“Oh God, what have you done to Justin?” Deb asks, horrified.

“Nothing the little shit didn’t deserve for being the prick tease he is. Chris would have been okay if Justin hadn’t made him want him, and Ben would have understood his place in my life if it wasn’t for Justin.” Michael ranted.

“What was Ben’s place?” I ask, wondering where his mind was going with this.

“To make sure you knew you could lose me.” He tells me. 

“Get him some help. If he shows up near Justin or me, I’ll let Carl arrest him.” I tell Deb.

“Brian, how can you turn away when you can see he needs us to help him?” She asks me.

“How can you expect me to help when you heard what he said?” I ask her, leaving.

I drove straight to Babylon and walked in, just wanting to forget Michael. I tilted my head to the backroom when a guy gave me the look. Then stood there wondering why the hell I was doing this. I turned to leave, but Emmett grabbed my arm.

“Are you trying to lose Justin?” He asks angry.

“No, and I was leaving, not following the trick.” I tell him.

“Why did you even come here?” He asks me.

“Habit. Michael pissed me off and I wasn’t thinking for a second.” I tell him.

“You have someone who can help you when you get like this, all you have to do is go home to him.” Emmett tells me.

“I know, and I am.” I tell him.

“Good, because I really don’t know if I could kick your ass, and I wasn’t in the mood to try and find out.” He tells me.

“Have a drink with me, we can celebrate your return to the world.” I tell him.

“Sure, and maybe fill me in on Alex?” He tells me.

“Justin’s Alex?”

“Hopefully if I play my cards right, my Alex.” He tells me.

“He’s gay?” I ask, not really seeing it.

“He said he’s not into labels.” He tells me.

“You could do worse, and have.” I tell him, joking.

“It’s just that I feel like I would be compared to Justin, and come out looking not as good.” He tells me.

“Emmett, it’s different being proud of your son. That’s how Alex sees Justin, as a son to be proud of, he’s not going to compare you to Justin, it’s a different kind of relationship.” I tell him.

“Don’t take this the wrong way Brian, but I’m proud of the person you’re becoming with Justin.” He tells me.

“I was always this person, Justin just makes it easier to be me and to let it show.” I tell him, kissing his head and going where I should have gone in the first place.