Part 6



Christmas Eve at Debbie’s was interesting.  Justin actually saw Michael for the first time since Brian left.  Justin knew through Debbie that things hadn’t worked out with David and Michael had come running home.  He also knew that he had married a professor from Carnegie Mellon named Ben.  Justin liked Ben right away, especially when he scolded Michael for being rude to Justin.  Of course, Justin wasn’t a 17 year old kid any more and he could definitely hold his own with the likes of Michael Bruckner.  Hell, he could take on Michael when he was 17.



Justin was more surprised by Emmett and his date than he was by the fact that Ted was back together with the tweaked out meth-head who had almost killed him.  “Aren’t you…?”



“George Schickle,” George said with a twinkling smile.  “I’m very pleased to meet you, young man.  I have read quite a bit about your art in recent months.  Taking New York by storm, or so the NY Times claims.”



Justin grinned, “Things are going pretty well, thanks.  Have you been to any of the local shows?”



And so for the rest of the evening, Justin was happy to discuss art and their intersecting social circles with George as well as politics, spirituality and literature with Ben.  He found the dirty looks Michael shot at him whenever he was near either Brian or Ben amusing and he ignored both Emmett and Ted who had ignored him for so long.  It wasn’t the greatest evening of his life, but both Brian and Debbie wanted him there, so he came and tried to be sociable.



The only real conflict came just as he and Brian were about to leave.  Debbie asked them what they were doing for Christmas.  Justin told her, but Michael overheard.  “What?  Brian, you aren’t coming here?  What the fuck?”



Brian raised his eyes in a gesture the Justin knew meant he was angry but trying not to cause a scene.  Michael, apparently missed the warning because he continued to rant.  He called Justin every kind of slur he could come up with and claimed that the younger man had somehow tricked Brian into whatever was going on between them.



“Enough!” Brian finally shouted and Michael fell silent.  In fact the entire house was silent as they waited for Brian to speak.  “Michael, Jennifer is actually the one who invited me to Christmas dinner and Justin didn’t know I had accepted until yesterday.  As for the shit you keep spouting about Justin, I can’t believe that you are still so fucking jealous and immature!  And then you wonder why I never come home!  Get the fuck over it Mikey!”



Justin was silent through the entire thing and only spoke when Brian was finished to wish Debbie a happy Christmas and to thank her again for dinner and the new scarf she gave him.  Brian was already out the door and halfway to the car before Justin caught up with him.



“I’m sorry about that,” Brian said.  “I was hoping that he might have grown up a little in the last six years.”



Justin laughed.  “I can’t believe his husband puts up with his shit.”



“Ben’s a fucking saint,” Brian said. “Though he does have his share of issues.”



“Everyone does,” Justin said.  “Emmett certainly lucked out with George.  And I don’t mean because of his money.”



Brian snorted.  “The money certainly doesn’t hurt.  But I know what you mean.  He’s a good man.  Much more down to earth than most rich guys I know.”



“He want’s me to do a portrait of him and Emmett,” Justin told Brian.  “I think I will.  I really like George.”



“More than you like Emmett or Ted or Michael,” Brian said. It was a statement, but Justin could hear the question there.  They had reached the car, but Brian didn’t unlock the doors.  He was waiting for an answer.



Justin shrugged.  “Brian they deserted me.  I thought we were friends but they all fucking shunned me without warning or explanation.  They all just stopped answering my calls and avoided me if we ran into each other in public.  Two weeks ago, I saw Ted and Emmett at Babylon—it happens every few months—and as usual when they spotted me they turned in the opposite direction.  That’s been happening for six years.  I’m not going to be a drama queen about it all, but that doesn’t mean I want to just forgive and forget.  Hell, they haven’t even apologized.  The only thing any of them said directly to me tonight was hello, and that was only to appease Debbie.”



“I’m sorry,” Brian said and wrapped his arms around Justin.



Justin chuckled.  “You aren’t the one who needs to apologize.”



“Yes I am,” Brian said.  “If I hadn’t left, this wouldn’t have happened.”



“We’ve been over that,” Justin said as he pushed Brian away and stood beside the car door, waiting.  “You did what you needed to do.  There’s nothing to apologize for.  Besides, sorry is bullshit.”  Brian gave him a long look before pressing the remote and unlocking the doors.



BJBJBJBJBJ



The week between Christmas and New Year’s went quickly.  Justin and Brian spent most days with Gus, who was out of school for the week, doing things that Brian usually didn’t have enough time to do when he visited like go to museums or the movies or to the indoor water park in Erie that Gus was always talking about in his emails.  Of course, Brian being Brian didn’t tell anyone that he was moving Kinnetik to Pittsburgh.  His response when Justin asked was, “They’ll figure it out eventually.”



For New Year’s Eve, the last night they were to be together, Brian told everyone that they had private plans and refused to tell anyone, including Justin, what those plans were.  That night, Brian loaded Justin into the rental car and they headed out.  About fifteen minutes after they left, Brian swore and turned the car around.  “I forgot the invitation.  Now we’re going to be late.”



Justin shrugged and went along for the ride.  He wasn’t bothered one way or the other.  “I’m just as happy staying home.  I just want to spend the time together.”



Brian didn’t say anything, but when they arrive back at the loft Brian asked Justin if he just wanted to go up and have a quiet night at home.  Justin smiled and followed his lover back upstairs.  When he opened the door to the loft, however, it was not as they had left it just a half an hour before.  There were candles everywhere you looked and a gourmet dinner was laid out on an immaculately dressed table.   Champaign was chilling in a silver bucket on the kitchen counter and music played over the stereo.  It was the most romantic thing Justin had ever seen.



“Brian…” Justin was not only speechless, he was breathless.



“Surprise,” Brian said and wrapped his arms around Justin.  “You like?”



“I love it,” Justin said with a smile as he turned in Brian’s arms and leaned up for a kiss.  “This is perfect.”



And it was.  They rang the New Year in together, by that point naked in bed, sipping Champaign and smoking a joint.  It was the best New Year that Justin could remember.  And he showed Brian his appreciation long into the morning of the first day of the year.  In fact, neither of them got more than a couple hours of sleep before Brian had to leave for the airport.



“I’ll be back in two weeks to finalize the sale,” Brian said.  “After that, I’ll be setting things up here while Cynthia closes up shop in New York.”



“Why does two weeks suddenly sound like a lifetime?”  Justin asked morosely.  “I mean, we were apart for six years.  And then, we were apart for months at a time.  Now two weeks is too long.”



Brian tilted Justin’s face up to his and kissed him softly and slowly.  “Because we know what we’re missing and we know that there’s an end in sight finally.”



Justin smiled.  “The end is in sight isn’t it?  Well, I guess I can hang in there for another two weeks.  You’re staying here when you get back, aren’t you?”



Brian looked up from where he had gone back to zipping his suitcase.  “I honestly hadn’t thought about it.  I don’t want to put pressure on you.  I can find a hotel or something until I find something more permanent.”



Justin nodded slowly.  “Yeah, you could, but I’d like for you to stay here.  We can see how things go.  I mean it would be silly to go buy a place and then have to sell it when I finally decide I’m brave enough to try this again.”



Brian noticed that he said when and not if.  That was definitely a step in the right direction.



BJBJBJBJBJ



Justin was at the airport two weeks later and practically threw himself into Brian’s arms when the brunette appeared through the security barrier.  Brian dropped his briefcase and tightly hugged Justin, whose legs were wrapped tight around his waist.  When their lips met, the heat radiating from them was surely enough to get them fines for indecent behavior if there had been a cop paying attention.



“Fuck, Sunshine,” Brian gasped out as he broke away.  “Any more of that and I’m going to have to drag you into the men’s room.”



Justin slowly let his legs return to the ground and bent to pick up Brian’s briefcase.  “Don’t tempt me.  We have places to be and no time for detours to the men’s room.”  Brian reluctantly agreed and the two men went to claim Brian’s luggage.



Once in Justin’s SUV, Brian sat back and let the fact that he was finally home wash over him.  Until now, he had been too busy with plans and packing to think about the reality of what he was doing.  He had spent the first thirty years of his life trying to get away from Pittsburgh but now he was choosing to come back.  It was truly mind boggling.  Then again, Brian thought that he’d been a little bit crazy from the moment he had met Justin Taylor.  The kid had drawn him like a moth to a flame that night as he stood under the street light, and for months Justin knew just how to play him, just how to turn him inside out.  The fact that he was returning to the place he vowed never to return to was a testament to how much power Justin still had over him.  Because he could talk it up all he wanted, say it was for the business, for Gus, for cost of living… in the end it came down to one person.  He was here because this was where Justin was.



Brian wasn’t sure how he had managed to walk away all those years ago.  He knew that it had taken months for him to recover from leaving, even if Justin was right and it was the right thing to do for his career.  He felt horrible for hurting Justin, but he’d hurt as well.  Cynthia had watched him flounder for months while he figured out how to exist without Justin.  Of course, he could never come right out and tell Justin that, even if it might help win him over.  Then again, this slow and steady move from nothing to something seemed to be working without spilling his guts.



Their first stop was at a car dealership.  Brian had haggled and negotiated over the phone to get exactly the car he wanted and it was ready and waiting for him when they arrived.  The salesman, a smarmy guy that Brian would never let anywhere near his sales team, kissed their ass the entire time they were in the showroom.  Of course, they weren’t there for very long, just long enough to sign the final papers and get the keys to Brian’s Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 convertible.  Justin liked the bright blue exterior with the white racing stripes.  He also liked the fact that it had a back seat for Gus.  He knew that Brian had wanted a Corvette, but there was no back seat.



After the dealership, they dropped Brian’s luggage and Justin’s SUV off at the loft, grabbed a bite to eat for lunch and headed to the real estate office for the closing on the Liberty Ave property.  That took less than an hour—even with Jennifer’s digging for information about the status of their relationship—so they drove to the site to see how the renovations were coming along.  The contractor showed them around the first floor, which was ahead of schedule.  At the rate the crew was working, the first floor would be done in a week if there were no major surprises.  In fact, they were far enough ahead that they had begun doing some of the preliminary work on the upper floors as well.



Their last appointment for the day was with Debbie for dinner.  They had decided to see her together away from the rest of the gang.  Brian still wasn’t sure when or if he wanted to tell Mikey and the gang he was back.  He still hadn’t talked to him about the way they had shunned Justin after he left and he wanted to know before he made a decision.  Debbie, however, was different.  She would strangle them both if they kept something like this from her.  So Justin had arranged to pick her up for dinner out, a rare treat for the professional waitress.



“Hey Sunshine,” Debbie said with a smile when she saw Justin at her door.  “I’m all set. Just let me grab my coat.”  Minutes later, they were walking down the front walk and Debbie was looking for Justin’s vehicle.  “Uh, Sweetie, I don’t see your SUV.”



“That’s because we aren’t taking my SUV,” Justin said as he continued to lead her to Brian’s car.  “We’re taking Brian’s Mustang.”



“Brian?” Debbie asked with surprise but her question was answered when she saw Brian standing beside the sporty blue car.  “Holy shit, asshole!  That’s a pretty car!”