JUSTIN

After Brian left, Mel went upstairs to change before we went to Kinnetik. Gus and Ryan were sitting on the floor in the living room playing together. I walked around, looking at the pictures of Gus growing up. Someone banged on the door and Lindsay got up to get it.

“You need to talk to Brian, he’s being an asshole.” I heard someone say.

“Ryan, want to go back to my room?” Gus asks.

“Why do you want to go to your room?” I ask him.

“Michael only comes over to complain about my dad. He always acts as if everyone should agree with him.” He tells me.

“I might join you if that’s the only reason he’s here,” I tell him.

Gus takes Ryan up the stairs past Mel, who is standing there staring at the front door.

“Michael, one of Lindsay’s cousins is here, it’s not a good time.” Mel tell him.

“I need Lindsay to tell Brian he needs to apologize for how he acted when I went to the loft.” He says, coming in the door. “Since when do you bother with your family?” He asks Lindsay, staring at me.

“I'm still friends with some of my family. My cousin… Jules has been working overseas until recently. Like Mel just said, it's really not a good time for you to be here.” She tells him.

“I'm sure he wouldn’t mind me being here. I'm Michael.” He tells me, eyeing me up and down.

“Jules, why don't we go ahead and get the things you wanted.” Mel tells me.

“Why not stay so we can get to know each other. I don't want you to feel like you have to leave on my account.” Michael tells me.

“I don’t want to inconvenience Mel, she took time off to help me.” I tell him.

“You guys should have called me, I could have helped him with anything he needed. They always forget I'm available.” He tells me.

“Michael, as much as I'm sure you would love to help Jules, he has an appointment that he wanted me to help him with.” Mel tells him.

“I can at least come so we could get to know each other.” He tells me.

“I'm only here for a few days and wanted to spend time with my family.  Thanks for the offer.” I tell him.

“I'm sure you don't want to just sit around with the girls all day. I could take you around, maybe go clubbing tonight. Apparently, my best friend is too busy being an asshole.” He tells me.

“Whatever Brian did, isn’t any of our business. We really need to get going.” Mel tells him.

“I was looking out for Brian, Cynthia was running in and out of Brian’s loft like she owned it. She rented one of the lofts to this asshole who kicked me out. Brian acted like I was wrong.” He tells them.

“Michael, she’s doing her job and you running over there all day trying to order her around just makes it harder for her to do what Brian asked her to do. As Mel has said, we have things to do, so go complain to Ben or your mom.” Lindsay says, frustrated.

“I don’t think Ben and I will work out, he told me he wanted a relationship that didn’t include more than us.” He complains, sitting down next to me.

“He’s probably tired of listening to you go on and on about how the guys took off without you. Why not go over and see him, show him you can talk about something other than Brian.” Mel tells him.

“Why bother, it’s not like we had much in common anyway. I need to look for someone who wants to do more than sit at home, discussing the latest cause. I thought my best friend would see that I needed a friend to talk to.” He tells me.

“What’s to talk about? If the guy isn’t the one for you, then you move on.” Lindsay tells him.

“It’s time for you to move on to somewhere else. Jules and I have other things to do.” Mel tells him, pulling him up and shoving him out the door.

“He really doesn’t take a hint, does he?” I ask them.

“No. And we need to get Ryan and leave in case he wants to come back and hit on you again.” Mel tells him.

“I’ll call Brian, to let him know Michael showed up here. At least he didn’t go to the loft.” Lindsay tells us.

“Can I go with you guys? I was supposed to spend the weekend with Dad anyway.” Gus asks.

“We need to ask your Dad.” Lindsay tells us.

“We were just going to stay in tonight, Gus is more than welcome to come.” I tell her.

Gus ran upstairs and brought down a backpack in seconds. The girls were laughing at how fast he ran up there. When we got to Kinnetik, Gus ran into the building, saying hi to everyone. A blond woman came over and handed me a phone.

“I put Brian’s number as your first contact, and added Mel, Lindsay, and me, into your phone. If you can't reach Brian, call me and I'll make sure you are able to talk to him. I'm Cynthia, by the way.” She tells me.

“I appreciate everything all of you are doing. Hopefully, things will die down soon.” I tell her.

“Even if they don't, Brian will do everything he can for you. He wants you to know you can come to him if you need anything.” She tells me.

“He’s already done more than I could have expected.” I tell her, going back out to the car with Gus.

“Why do you think Brian is doing all this for me?” I ask Mel.

“It’s the way he is. Don’t ever tell him I said this, but he’s the most unselfish asshole on the planet. When Brian cares about someone, he takes care of them. In your case, I think he cares in a way he never thought he would.” She tells me.

“Why did that sound painful for you to say?” I ask, laughing.

“Brian and I like to fight with each other, it’s how we show we love each other. I say something nice and it upsets the balance of things.” She tells me, giggling.

“Lindsay mentioned you wouldn’t say nice things about Brian. You just don’t say it where anyone can hear it.” I joke.

“Brian and I didn’t get off to a good start with each other. I met Lindsay and she brought Brian out with us everywhere, for a while I was confused about which of us Lindsay was dating. Brian and I started out snarking at each other, and never really stopped. It’s just hard to not see the guy he is. When we had Gus, Brian was there, making sure we had what Gus needed. Justin, sometimes Brian can’t say things, but it’s there if you pay attention to what he’s doing.” She tells me.

“My life seems to bring complications that are more than most people can handle. I stay away from relationships for the sake of other people.” I tell her.

“If Brian wants more, he’ll find a way to make it work. If he wants something, he never quits just because it’s too complicated.” She tells me.

I sent a text to Brian to let him know we were on our way. He let us know to park in the back and Blake would be waiting for me, but not to come to the loft. Blake let us in and got us on the elevator, saying it would keep anyone from seeing us. Blake let us into the upstairs loft and I went looking for a place to put Ryan down for his nap. I came out and started looking for something to drink in the refrigerator, while Gus pulled out a book and started reading.

“They put the ladder to Brian’s loft in the storage closet to this loft. I put a lock on it so Ryan can’t get in there without someone letting him in.” Blake tells me.

“Why did Brian want me to come here and not his loft?” I ask.

“The same reason I didn’t want you to stay, apparently Michael couldn’t stay away for even a day.” Blake tells me.

“He came over to Mel and Lindsay’s house, but didn’t recognize me. I think he tried to hit on me.” I tell him.

“All the more reason to see your mother and get out of town.” Blake tells me.

“If this is a problem for you, I can have Drew find someone else to be here.” I tell Blake.

“I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t tell you this was a bad idea.” He tell me.

“You already told me, and I told you what we would do, repeating it over and over isn’t going change what I decided we would do. Brian promised that nothing would hurt Ryan and I trust him to do it.” I tell him.

“My Dad doesn’t make promises unless he plans on keeping them.” Gus tells Blake.

BRIAN

Michael showed up, and I waited until Blake texted that Justin was upstairs in the loft. Michael came over telling me about some guy he met. He wanted advice on how to ask him out.

“Michael, why would you come to me for advice on dating? You're the one who seems to know all about them.” I tell him sarcastically.

“I don’t think he’s going to ask me out, like Ben did. I think he’s the one I been waiting for.” Michael tells me.

“Where did you meet him?” I ask him.

“It’s not important where I met him, the last thing I need is you showing up, acting like relationships are a joke.” He tells me.

“Then why did you come here at all, if you know how I feel about relationships?” I ask him.

“I wanted to offer to bring Gus to see you. With you being busy, I thought it would be nice for you not to have to deal with Lindsay expecting you to take time out of your schedule to pick him up.” Michael tells me.

“How did we get from you asking someone out, to Gus?” I ask, confused.

“My asking someone out doesn’t have anything to do with Gus. I thought it would help you.” He tells me.

“I’ll get Gus on my own. I really need to get some work done, so go forth and ask the guy out if you want to.” I tell him, opening my door.

“I was only offering to make it easier on you. You should let me get Gus and drop him off for you.” He tells me, as I grab his arm and push him out the door.