Thanksgiving

"I'm so glad you could make it." Debbie hugged Justin tightly. "How are you holding?"

"Deb, I'm fine. I don't want to talk about it." He returned the hug. "How are you? How's the diner?"

"Oh, things are fine, Sunshine."

"Jus!" Gus ran full pelt speed to Justin, colliding with his legs. "I missed you lots!"

The tightening in Justin's throat returned tenfold. He picked the little boy up, cuddling him close. "I missed you too, Gussy."

"Come. Mommy is pretty upset right now, maybe you can make her smile."

Justin mouthed an apology to Debbie, carrying Gus to the sofa where Lindsay and Melanie were having a deep conversation.

"Hello, guys! I found something that's yours," Justin joked.

They looked up with sympathetic looks. Then Justin found himself in a muncher sandwich.

"You're squishing me," Gus protested, clinging to Justin's neck.

"Sorry, buddy." Justin kissed his head. "So how are things in Toronto? Did you guys settle down nicely?"

"We're still adapting. They miss their dads and can't understand why we had to move away. Mel can't find a law company to practice. I found an art gallery where I am the curator, but most of my time is spent there."

"Oh, sucks. I know what you mean by spending all your time at the art gallery. I run between this small gallery Simon helped to get a spot to display my paintings and the bar. I'm home to shower and catch a few hours of sleep."

Lindsay nodded, smiling. "Is Simon nice?"

"As nice as expected. He invited me to a party in two weeks. I don't plan to stick around him much. He's a cunt."

"DADDDDDYYY!"

Justin cringed. He might have lost hearing in his left ear. Though, the implication of Gus's dad being present provided terrible outcoming.

He let Gus down, and the little boy sprinted to the door where Brian was taking his winter jacket off. He caught his son mid-run, hugging him tightly.

Justin looked away from the tearful reunion.

"Have you talked...?"Mel wondered.

"No."

"Maybe..." Lindsay said softly.

"Would everyone butt the fuck out? I'm going to say hi to Emmett." Justin stomped to the kitchen.

Emmett enveloped him in a big hug, praising him on how good he looked. Justin sincerely doubted he looked good. He barely ate, slept fitfully, and worked like a dog.

"Tell me all about the hot men you met there!"

Justin laughed, taking a can of beer from the counter and opening it. "To meet them I should go out. I don't have time for that."

"No worries, sweetie. I'll visit soon. We'll go out and have fun."

"Emmett, I hate to break it to you, but I'm so busy at the moment, I'll be a terrible host."

"...and you draw this for me? That's so thoughtful of you, Sonny Boy." Brian came into the kitchen with Gus in his arms. He made a brief eye-contact with Justin, before extracting orange juice from the fridge.

Justin caught sight of a raw drawing in Gus's hand. The look on the child's face was one of pride of making his daddy happy.

Unaware of the differences between the adults, Gus angled the drawing in Justin's direction. "Look, Jus! I did it for you and Daddy! Daddy said he'd place it on the fridge at home."

On top of it, away from view, Justin thought to himself as he stared at the drawing. It represented a small boy staying between two male adults and holding their hands. One of them was almost as tall as the paper with brown hair and big green eyes, and the other one was shorter, with a lot of yellow lines on his head, showing longer hair, and he had equally big blue eyes. Gus himself was a small figure that barely reached Justin's knees, with brown hair and eyes. All three of them were wearing big smiles.

"Does the artist approve of my son's talent?" Brian cut through his thoughts.

Justin restrained any hostile look around Gus. "It's beautiful. My mom's refrigerator was filled with such pictures when I was young."

"Now she frames them and hangs them on walls," Brian told Gus, kissing his cheek.

Emmett eyed them warily, sensing they were headed in the wrong direction. "Do you want to help me decorate the appetizer plate?" He asked Gus.

"Yes! Can I, Daddy?"

"Sure." Brian put him down, and the child dragged a chair next to Emmett, expecting instructions on what to do.

Justin found his escape, and decided to head to the bathroom to splash some cold water on his face. He'd known he'd see Brian at Thanksgiving, but he couldn't deny Debbie's invitation. She always insisted that he was family, even when he wasn't with Brian.

He barely had the bathroom door closed behind him when it opened and in slipped Brian, locking it.

"What do you want?" Justin asked tiredly, turning the cold water tap on, then bending to wash his face.

The water stopped running, and he looked up to find Brian right there. Next thing he knew was Brian's hot, insistent mouth on his, his back colliding with the wall.

Against his better judgment, Justin sagged into the kiss, his fingers tangling in Brian's hair. As the kiss got rougher, he became aware of things. Things like Brian's foreign smell, like Brian's uncharacteristically rumpled clothes.

Justin pushed him away, cupping a hand over his mouth. "Do you have any sense of decency? You coming to family dinner after visiting the Baths?"

"Actually, I've spent the past couple of days at the loft trying to sort everything for branching out Kinnetik." He paused for a moment, hesitating. "Evan helped me with good location ideas."

Justin curled his hands into fists. "Why do you keep doing this to me? You were with him, weren't you? You fucking reek." He glared, not believing that Brian wasn't defending himself. "It's true, isn't it? He's at the loft. You fucked. Then you came here… fashionably late. Then you cornered me in the bathroom and tried… What exactly are you playing at? Why do you keep hurting me, Brian?" Tears sprung into Justin's eyes as he said his speech hotly.

"It was stupid of me not to shower. But trust me when I say we haven't fucked. I grabbed one of his shirts by mistake. It happened just that one time."

"One time? You mean the whole time of your business trip in Miami. Spare me." Justin held a hand up, repulsed. "I never thought you could disgust me like this, Brian. At least, I knew when to step aside back then when I sneaked behind your back with Ethan. You keep coming on me…"

"Justin…" Brian whispered, his voice laced with pain. "You have no idea how fucking sorry I am for letting things get out of the way."

"We're men. We can't be tamed and tied down, remember? I came to understand and accept that, but I put my foot down at you being around your ex-boss. Then you go away with him on a business trip and that fucking storm played to your advantage."

"I tried calling you," Brian muttered.

"Stop calling. Or call away. I changed my number. We're done. Get that through your head. I don't want you in my life. If you move to New York, make sure to avoid all the places you know I frequent." Justin unlocked the door, but stopped with his hand on the handle. "And tell your new boyfriend to stop pestering me at the bar. He's been driving me crazy."

"I already told him to stop trying to patch things up between us. I know you're upset."

"I'm upset?" Justin roared, spinning on his heels to face Brian. "I'm fucking mad. You managed to hurt me so badly, Brian. I'm afraid I can't trust anyone again...and I resent you for that."

Brian reached for Justin, but Justin slapped his hand away, snatching the door open. He came face to face with a pale Michael.

"I...I can...piss later."

Justin rolled his eyes, brushing past him.

Everyone downstairs was silent, watching him warily. In that moment he decided he couldn't stay at dinner.

"I'm really sorry, Deb. I can't do this. I'll drop by in the next few days while I'm in town." He went to grab his jacket.

"Sunshine, you don't have to go. No one is kicking you out," Debbie said softly, going to him.

"It's too awkward. I can't be around him. I promise to visit." He kissed her cheek, waving to the others. Before he left, he heard yelling from upstairs, Brian telling Michael to shut the fuck up.

With one last look at Debbie, Justin slipped out of the door, zipping up his jacket and stuffing his hands in the pockets.

For a second, Justin contemplated if any of these would have happened if he'd decided to go through with the wedding and said 'fuck it' to New York. That Evan Steele would have never come between them to ruin their perfect relationship.

oOo

Justin spent his night at Daphne's catching up and avoiding all Brian subjects.

After downing a few shots of tequila, he woke up with a monstrous headache.

Daphne was already gone, her shift at the hospital starting at seven; four hours before Justin stirred to life.

He drank water to alleviate the headache, and after a shower, he went to Debbie's. Hopefully she wouldn't try meddling too much.

Close to one in the afternoon, Justin rang the doorbell.

Carl answered, smiling at seeing Justin. "Hello, Justin. Sorry I missed dinner last night."

"Hey. Don't you know? I left."

Carl stepped aside to allow him in, shaking his head. "Deb was already sleeping when I got home."

"You mean she hasn't woken up yet?" Justin asked, confused.

"She's at the diner."

"Oh. Of course. I'll go over there for a while. Thanks."

"Okay. Take care." Carl patted his back.

Justin walked to the diner. Meanwhile, his mom called, demanding to see him before he returned to New York. He promised to visit after seeing Debbie.

At the diner, he was relieved to see it devoid of unwanted people.

"Black coffee," he said, smiling at Debbie.

"Hello to you too."

"Hi." He offered her his brightest smile. "You aren't upset about last night, right?"

"I have no clue what he's done, but I ripped him a new one for sending you away." She huffed, filling a cup with coffee. "Do you care to explain why you were shouting in my bathroom?"

"I'd rather not talk about it. I mean what's done is done."

"Sunshine, tell me." Debbie leaned over the counter, cupping his cheek. "Did he hurt you?"

"You could say that. Please, Deb. I don't want to talking about it."

She opened her mouth to keep pushing for information, but realized he wasn't going to tell her. "Okay then. I hear you're bussing tables. I hope you're making me proud."

Justin chuckled. "It's not exactly bussing, per see. I'm behind the bar, making drinks, refilling glasses. That sort of job."

"Teddy!" Debbie exclaimed, when she noticed him entering the food establishment. "We missed you at dinner last night."

Ted sat on the stool next to Justin. "Hey, Justin. Yeah, Deb, sorry about that. My boss is working me hard. He wants to branch out to New York, and guess who knows how to help? You guessed. Moi. I even taught Blake basic accountancy to be my assistant."

"Must be tough. I hope he's paying you well," Justin commented.

"Double the usual." Ted nodded, happily. "Also, Brian promised me a trip to Hawaii when everything is done and ready to roll in New York."

"Awesome."

"Are you two okay? He's been in a hell of a mood ever since he returned from visiting you."

Justin gasped mockingly. "Someone who doesn't know. We broke up, Ted."

"Don't say that," Debbie chided him.

"We aren't going to make up. Not this time. Oh, fuck." Justin stared at the two men that entered the diner. He hurried to pay for his coffee and get out of there.

Brian barely acknowledged him, leading Evan to a booth. He nodded to Ted in greeting, taking a seat next to his friend. They leaned into each other, looking over a menu.

In all the years they'd come to the diner, Justin had never seen Brian looking over the menu.

Debbie eyed them confused. "Are you going to introduce us to your new friend?" She snapped her gum, staring at him.

Brian glanced at her, then caught Justin's eye, before sighing. "This is Evan Steele. We used to work together. He was my first boss."

"Oh, I remember. You barely had time to visit, and when we saw you, you always complained about what an ass he was." Debbie nodded.

"I'm flattered." Evan told his eyes.

"You were an ass. I worked like a slave, when in reality you've already made up your mind about keeping me."

"I had to keep you guessing. If was fun watching you get riled up."

Justin fake gagged in his coffee. When everyone turned to look at him, he shrugged. "I'm off. Lots to do." He placed a five dollar bill on the counter, leaned over to kiss Debbie, wished Ted luck with the difficult task, then he left.

Debbie stared after him worried, then she focused on Brian, once again pouring over the menu.

"You know that by heart. Now, stop pretending. He's gone. What the hell happened between you two?"

"I was an idiot. Justin finally woke up and realized who I truly am. End of story. We'd like two turkey breast sandwiches, no mayo. And hold the fucking remarks." Brian met Ted's curious eyes. "Come meet an old friend of mine, Theodore."