BRIAN

Mel came in the house while Justin let Gus show him his room. Blake sat at the dining room table waiting for Justin to come back. He still planned on telling Justin staying at the loft wouldn’t work. Mel put her briefcase on the table, waiting for why I called her to come.

“Is someone going to tell me what's going on?” She asks.

“I need to ask you some legal advice, but we're waiting for Gus to get back,” I tell her.

Ryan came out of the kitchen with Lindsay and climbed on my lap to sit down. “I got two cookies.” He whispers to me.

“Where are they?” I ask.

“In my tummy. She made brownies too.” He tells me.

“Who’s the cutie?” Mel asks, watching Ryan turn and put his head on my shoulder.

“Ryan, can you say Hello to Mel?” I ask.

He lifts his head and shyly says hi to her. “She's pretty.” He whispers.

“Thank you, sweetie,” Mel tells him. “Now can someone explain to me why you asked me to come?” She asks.

“Mama, look who's here. Jus signed all my stuff, and said when we had a chance we can go see Grandma Deb.” Gus says, pointing at Justin.

“Hi, I'm Melanie Marcus. Thank you for Gus’s sudden interest in making straight A’s.” She tells him.

“Jus told me it's important to do good because I can become anything I want with a good education. He said he always regretted he didn’t go to college.” Gus tells her.

“Who's that?” Ryan asked.

“My son Gus,” I tell him. “Gus this is Ryan, Justin’s son,” I tell him.

“Jus said I could show him my room if I want too. Do you want to see it? I have pictures of your dad.” Gus asks Ryan.

Ryan looks at Justin who nods, so he slides down my legs and follows Gus upstairs. “I thought it would be easier to talk without the kids around,” Justin tells us.

“What do you want to ask?” Mel asks us.

“I recently fired my agent. Afterward, she used my phone to track me and sent reporters to where I'd been. I'm just wondering if what she did was legal.” He tells her.

“Are you breaking your contract?” She asks.

“My contract expired and I didn’t resign with her.” He tells her.

“Was there any clause that said she could use any means to find you?” She asks me.

“Not in my contract. She did it once, saying she was lost and it became a way she would find me when without having to call me. I learned to make sure not to call when I was with Ryan.” He tells her.

“Even if she was finding you for a business reason, it’s still an odd way to do it. Does she own your phone?” She asks him.

“No, it was mine.” He tells her.

“It could be considered stalking with intent to harm you. There really aren’t laws in place for GPS, because people haven’t figured out the harm in letting people know where they are. I would suggest that you have your lawyer talk to her and tell her that with you no longer being her client, she no longer has a reason to contact you. If she continues then you can file harassment charges. Hopefully, she won’t want to risk her reputation by continuing to bother you.” She tells him.

“Justin, we need to talk about the living situation, I don’t think it’s a good idea.” Blake cuts in.

“I need a place that doesn’t connect to me. There isn’t any reason someone would look for me with Brian.” He tells Blake.

“There’s an issue with the friend who doesn’t seem to know to leave. This guy Michael turns up in front of the loft constantly, trying to get in. You and Ryan would be stuck in the loft because there is no telling when he will show up.” Blake tells Justin.

“It’s not like I plan to run all over Pittsburgh, I don’t see the problem with staying with Brian,” Justin tells Blake.

“No offense intended, but even Brian seems to have a problem escaping Michael. Why were you even letting him in your place?” Blake asks me.

“I needed to let him do what he normally does, so he doesn’t ask any questions. I came back when I told him I wasn’t planning to, and the national news stations are already running stories about Justin running off with a new love interest. Michael isn’t the brightest person we know, but me coming home and Justin disappearing at the same time, is going to having him looking for anything strange. Before I left Justin came up in a few conversations.” I tell him.

“I heard my future OD was being predicted,” Justin tells me.

“Michael said that?” Lindsay asks.

“He thinks Gus should have a real hero,” I tell Lindsay.

“Justin, I just see this exploding in your face if you stay at Brian’s,” Blake tells him.

I waited to see if Justin had faith in me to keep him and Ryan safe. It would tell me if he trusted me or if I was just a way to get to Pittsburgh for him.

“We try Brian’s idea first if something happens we decide how to get Ryan away first. Brian and I will just distract them long enough. We can always go to my house in Colorado. No one knows about it yet.” Justin tells us.

“If they find Justin, then we give them the boyfriend,” I tell them.

“I can get Ryan and take him to where you want me to. People wouldn’t really pay attention to me taking Ryan because they would assume I’m the mother.” Lindsay tells us.

“I don’t like this, but if you want to stay here, we stay. I’ll go now and call you if he’s waiting around. I might need to bring in another person just so you have someone with you at all times.” Blake tells him.

“I don’t need someone with me all the time. You're only here because Drew is overly cautious. With Brian here with me, I think we can deal with anything that happens.” Justin tells him.

“I’ll go back with Blake. Mel, can you take Justin to Kinnetik? Cynthia should have a phone for him.” I tell them.

“Sure, I’ll drop him off after if you need me to,” Mel tells us.

“Call me from your new phone, I doubt Michael will be there, I left him pissed at me. It usually gives me a day before he starts pestering me for an apology.” I tell Justin.

Blake and I were heading for the door. I walked by Justin and he leaned up to kiss me without really thinking about it. Ryan and Gus were watching us and Ryan came over and puckered his lips. I leaned down and kissed the future heartbreaker.

“I get the feeling you don’t like Justin wanting to stay with me,” I tell Blake in the car.

“My job is to take care of Justin and Ryan. Staying with you comes with your obsessed fan, who doesn’t like the idea of you doing anything without his permission. He isn’t going to be happy when he figures out you want Justin as more than a neighbor. You do realize the guy wants you, don’t you?” He asks me.

“Why do you think Michael will ever meet Justin?” I ask him.

“Because Michael is going to want to know why your attention isn’t on him. Relationships tend to give you less time to entertain your friends.” He tells me.

“Then make suggestions on how to make this work. Ones that don’t involve Justin disappearing,” I tell him.

EMMETT

Having a boyfriend isn’t what I always thought it would be. I always thought parking in a car would have clothes flying, not binoculars watching people.

“Why are we following the creep around?” I ask when I got tired of the silence.

“The asshole would love to expose anything on Justin. I just want to know if he finds anything.” He tells me.

“What would he find at city hall?” I ask him.

“He’s looking to see if Justin owns anything in town. I’m sure he’s frustrated as hell that no one in town is giving away anything on Justin.” He tells me.

“I’m going to admit that surprised me. It’s not like the reporters would run through town saying who told them any information but everyone is being tight-lipped.” I tell him.

“The town respects Tom and Camie. Tom asked everyone to give Justin the same privacy they want.” He tells me.

“How many people know about Justin?” I ask him.

“Most of the town, but he’s been around enough that no one really reacts to him.” He tells me.

Patrick was walking out, talking on the phone and looking a bit frustrated. He turned, coming our way, and Drew pulled me to him and laid one hell of a kiss on me. We were at the point where public indecently was sounding like a great idea. He pulled back and started the car. I looked around for Patrick but didn’t see him.

“Did he see us?” I ask Drew.

“He was busy, most likely telling Rita that Justin doesn’t own anything here. He got in a car that pulled up, so I doubt he noticed us.” He tells me.

“I don’t mind making out to keep Patrick from questioning why you were there,” I tell him.

“I didn’t kiss you because of Patrick.” He tells me.

“Then why?” I ask.

“Kevin kissed Whitney, thought I’d start slowly and work up to the rest, so you get to say you got the full experience.” He tells me.