TED

Brandon was meeting Brian and Justin in West Virginia, Brian wanted Brandon to be the go-to guy on this deal. It was weird not to have him around the way he’s been since we started dating. I called Mel since I had free time and told her we could meet at the cafe she liked. Mel has been seriously looking at moving, and told me she wanted to make sure she could be closer to Gus. She’d been worried about how I would take being the one having to travel to be in our baby’s life. I wasn’t planning on constantly being around at first, but I wanted to be there as much as possible and to help her when she needed it. We’d figure it out, but it’s a strong motivation for moving, and part of me wonders how a new relationship would survive if I didn’t stay here.

“Ted?” I hear looking up to see Blake and another guy walking by.

“Blake, how have you been?” I ask.

“Good. Working at the clinic. How have you been?” He asks.

“Good. Well, I quit my job and got a new one working with Brian Kinney.” I tell him, wondering why neither of us seem to mention anything meaningful to each other.

“I heard you were dating again.” He said quietly.

“I am, what about you?” I ask him.

Blake sat down and drew patterns in the table. “It took a while, but he’s not so linked with my past the way you and I were with each other. I always thought one day we could find a way to get past everything and be together. I guess that was just wishful thinking.” He tells me, looking at me.

“I think we were constantly at the wrong time. When one of us was ready, the other wasn’t. You look happy and that’s all I ever wanted for you.” I tell him.

“You always made me happy, it was just like you said, we couldn’t seem to get together when it was the right time. You seem happy too, is he what you always wanted?” He asks me.

“He’s different, and we want the same things. He only cares that I’m happy, and I like who I am with him. I had to get past thinking he was something he wasn’t, but I like what I found with him.” I tell him.

“It helps that he’s gorgeous.” He tells me, looking back at the table.

“So are you, but it’s not all I see when I see both of you. It’s just different, like you said. Blake, I loved you, but I couldn’t seem to get you to believe it. It was something that always seemed to get in the way for us.” I tell him.

“I love you too, be happy.” He tells me, hugging me. “I’ll always be happy you were in my life.” He tells me, going to the table with the new boyfriend.

Mel sat down and smiled sadly at Blake as he left.

“Everything okay?” She ask.

“He just wanted to say hi.” I tell her.

“Do you miss him?” She asks.

“I wanted a lot from him, and it just wasn’t in the cards for us. In a way there will always be a part of me that wishes we could have gotten together enough to make it work.” I tell her.

“I think we all wish for the one who got away.” She tells me.

“Who do you wish for?” I ask her.

“Someone who couldn’t settle down, she wanted to live her life without the things I needed to be happy.” She tells me.

“She was also young when you dated her. A lot changes, look at Brian. No one ever saw him settling down, it just took him figuring out he let the wrong one go.” I tell her.

“Who’s the wrong one for you?” She asks, tilting her head at Blake.

“A year ago I would have said he was the one I wanted more than anything, now I can see we were in this cycle of trying for something that didn’t have to be as hard as we made it. Hopefully we can still be friends.” I tell her.

“Do you see a future with Brandon?” She asks me.

“Strangely enough, yes. He doesn’t play games, he knows what he wants, and would fight to get it.” I tell her, smiling.

“I want someone to fight for me.” She tells me.

“Then don’t overlook someone because you’re scared to find out she didn’t change. You spent too many years unhappy to fight being happy with someone.” I tell her.

“I need to have our child first, then maybe when I move I’ll have time for other things.” She tells me.

“I’ve been thinking about that, other than Brandon, I’m not sure what keeps me here.” I tell her.

“I would love for you to move with me, but you need to talk to Brandon. He makes you happy.” She tells me.

My phone goes off with a text. “I HATE THE IDEA OF SLEEPING WITHOUT YOU!!!!” Brandon texted, making me smile like a goofy teen.

“I’ll talk to him.” I tell her.

LINDSAY

I left to go to Chicago, I had to look up how to get to Justin’s house. I remembered the address but didn’t know the area. I sat in the rental car, looking at the house that Justin bought and couldn’t help seeing that he even had to buy a house like mine. No one could see that everything was parallel to my life. He met Brian and wanted him, doing everything to be with Brian. He let Brian turn his world upside down and ended up having a child for Brian. Then did nothing with the talent that he had. I’m sure if he had a relationship it would have ended because Justin can’t seem to understand that Brian will never give him what he wants. It’s all there, if anyone would pay attention; Justin wanted what I had, which was Brian wanting me around.

Someone knocked on the car window, which made me realize I’d been sitting here for a while.

“Can I help you, you looked lost?” The guy asks.

“I wanted to visit a friend but it doesn’t look like anyone is here.” I tell him.

“You know Justin?” He asks.

“I was looking for Brian. Our son said he and Brian were here to visit an old friend of ours, Justin Taylor.” I tell him.

“You’re Gus’s mother?” He asks.

“Yes, I was hoping to catch them here and convince them to come home. I miss having my boys home.” I tell him.

“Brian lives with you?” He asks, scowling.

“Of course he does, we’re married, that’s usually what you do when you’ve gotten married.” I tell him rubbing my ring.

“Does Justin know you're married to Brian?” He asks.

“Justin’s a kid who used to run around with Brian and his friends. I was his mentor, but he seemed to get along with Brian really well. Brian and I had to tell Justin it was time for him to find a life outside of our family. He has so much potential, but staying around us just seemed to make him give up wanting to do what he should. Brian and I got married after Justin left for college, but I’m sure Brian shared our happy news with Justin.” I tell him.

“I doubt it.” He mumbles.

“Do you know where they are? I miss Gus and wanted to spend some time with him.” I tell him.

“My daughter said they were going out of town.” He tells me.

I looked over as a man and woman pull into Justin’s driveway. The woman looked familiar and when she helped the guy put a ‘for sale’ sign in the yard, I saw it was Cynthia. The man I’d been talking to was staring at the sign. “I can’t fucking believe Justin would do this.” He tells me.

“What?” I ask.

“Nothing, it’s nothing. You probably should call your husband. I think there’s more going on than you know and Justin doesn’t deserve what he’s doing to him.” He tells me.

“If you know something you should tell me.” I tell him.

“He’s lying to both you and Justin. Justin shouldn’t have Brian fucking with his head.” He tells me.

I waited for something that would at least tell me where they went. Now that I know Brian is here ruining everything, I needed the information, so I could make Justin see that Brian isn’t who he should ever want. I was about to say something, but Cynthia was looking directly at me while on her phone. I started the car and pulled out, almost hitting the guy who was still standing there. Cynthia needs to remember that her relationship with Brian isn’t as important to Brian as mine is. She didn’t fare any better than Justin, Brian left her behind too.

BRIAN

Justin answered his phone while we were driving to the meeting. Justin was finalizing his show and checking on the kids for us, so he seemed to be on the phone the whole way. He reached into my breast pocket and pulled out my pen, writing down things on his sketch pad. Brandon watched us, amused at the way Justin didn’t just use his pencil, the one he put behind his ear.

“He likes my pens, I use to have to body search him before he left my loft.” I tell Brandon.

“I’m sure that’s exactly why you did it.” He tells me.

“How are things with Ted?” Justin asks, when he hung up, putting my pen in his pocket.

“Good. I wish he had come with me, but he seems to think we don’t have to spend every second together.” Brandon tells him.

“Ted always seemed like a loner, I mean he was always with Emmett and the guys, but most of the time he was almost apart from them. I never really got to know him very well until recently. He’s so different from what I thought.” Justin tells him.

“He is, at first I thought he wasn’t interested. Then again he probably thought I wasn’t the kind of guy who wanted more than a trick, but he knows better now.” He tells Justin.

“He was probably comparing you to Brian. You became the next ‘it’ guy in Babylon, so he figured you weren’t interested in more.” Justin tells him.

“I get that a lot. It’s fun, but then what’s left but a series of people whose names I can’t remember. I like waking up and knowing the guy next to me gives a shit if I’m breathing.” He tells Justin.

“People could never understand that I didn’t have a problem with what Brian and I were doing. I would have always wondered if it had only been Brian. I couldn’t do that now, but it’s more because I don’t see the point when I know he’s who I want.” Justin tells him.

“I was waiting for the person who made me not want anyone else. Ted makes it easy for me to bypass that life.” Brandon tells us.

We got to the meeting and I let Brandon lead and helped him when he couldn’t answer something. I wanted my execs to be able to convince a client that they could be as good as I was, and Brandon was showing me that he wanted any opportunity I gave him. It made me wonder if having Brandon in both cities wasn’t the better idea. I wanted to be there for Hannah, but advertising didn’t always make it possible to for me to be there for everything. When we left I asked Brandon if he would consider basing himself in Chicago. Cynthia had already interviewed five people who were willing to leave their firms so Pittsburgh would have the people it needed without Brandon being there.

“I’m not attached to Pittsburgh, but it would depend on other people.” He tells me.

“Ted could easily work from Chicago.” I tell him.

“If he could I don’t see any reason to not make the move.” He tells us.

Justin and I were in the hotel putting away our things. He’d been quiet in the car after the meeting and I wanted to know what was going on in his head.

“Is something bothering you?” I ask him.

“Listening to Brandon really made it obvious that you can see things wrong.” He tells me.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“I’m sure people compare him to you and don’t see past what they want to believe. Brandon isn’t afraid of commitment, he was just having fun until the person he wanted came along. I feel like I was misjudging him based on the way he was living his life.” He tells me.

“What bothers you about that?” I ask.

“It’s not that it bothers me, just that it proves that sometimes what I thought wasn’t what was really going on. It’s like when you left and didn’t call me. I saw it as you rejecting everything about me. I never stopped to think that you could have wanted me to have a chance at a life different from what you thought you wouldn’t give me. That you wanted me to be happy, even if it wasn’t with you. It makes you look at things differently.” He tells me.

“Justin, I wanted a chance that Pittsburgh wasn’t going to give me. I wasn’t in a place where staying with you was what I needed at the time. I won’t lie to you and say there wasn’t some selfishness on my part. I really thought you’d end up finding someone to give you everything you wanted. If you didn’t than we’d meet again, only older and wiser and start out on an equal footing. I put you in the back of my mind and did what I wanted, but you were always there.” I tell him.

“We’re older, wiser, and together, so as usual you got what you wanted. If you’d only learned to listen to me than you wouldn’t be an old man when we met again.” He tells me, taking off when I went after him. The twat was laughing at me when I caught him.