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| Part 3 : Like The Ocean We Sway, You & I |
| "Linds, I can't believe you're making me do this." Brian groaned as he, Lindsay, and Gus walked down Liberty Avenue looking at all the little kiosk’s. "Brian, ever since Justin left, you've barely left the loft." Lindsay said. 'It's time to get on with your life." Brian looked at her and sneered. It had been a few weeks since the last time he spoke to Justin, and as much as he had wanted to talk to him, wanted to try and get him back, he had given up. Every time he saw Justin he was with that flake, Ty. "And what better way than to spend an afternoon on Liberty Avenue wandering around pretending to be shopping." He said sarcastically. "Hang on. I'm going in there to buy some lube." Brian wandered into a little sex shop. Lindsay waited outside the store and looked around. She loved spending an afternoon on Liberty with Gus. There were people everywhere, different people than the evening crowd, and the hustle and bustle excited Gus. "Hey, Linds." A familiar voice said from behind her. She hadn't seen Justin in a couple of weeks. Ted had told her that they saw him at Babylon almost every night with that new guy, Ty. No one really knew what was going on, all they knew was that as soon as Brian saw the blond boy, he found an excuse to leave. "Hi, Justin." Lindsay said. "How are you?" She felt a little bit uncomfortable knowing that Brian was just inside that store. Justin took Gus's hand and started cooing at him. "I'm ok." Justin shrugged. "A little tired." Lindsay saw the fatigue on his face, obviously the club scene was getting to him. His skin lacked the youthful glow it once held, and there were dark circles under his eyes. "Spending too much time at Babylon." Lindsay scolded gently. Justin shrugged. "You should come visit, Justin. Bring your boyfriend." "My what?" Justin was confused. Lindsay saw this and was now sure that he and Ty were just friends, nothing more. "Ty?" Lindsay asked gently. "Oh." Justin realized who she was talking about and knew that the gay grapevine had been a buzz. He wondered how Brian felt about the talk that Justin was taken. "I got three different kinds." Brian's smile faded when he saw Justin standing there. He wasn't sure what to say or how to react. Justin looked beautiful, he always did in Brian's eyes, with the sun glimmering off his hair. He didn't even notice the signs that Justin hadn't been getting much sleep. "Justin." He said cordially. "Hi, Brian." Justin said quietly. Had he known that Lindsay was out with Brian, and not with Mel, he wouldn't have come over to say hello. The last time they had spoken, or even been in close proximity to each other was the night Brian told Justin that he needed him. "I'd better get going. I'm meeting Ty for lunch." Justin gave Lindsay and Gus each a kiss on the cheek and gave Brian one last regretful look before hurrying away. "Did you know he was going to be here?" Brian would have been angry, but seeing Justin had weakened him. He hated feeling helpless whenever Justin was around. "No, Brian, of course not!" Lindsay said with horror. "As much as I want you two to be together, I would never set it up. What happened anyways?" "He left me." Brian said simply. He watched Justin walk down the street towards the diner. "I finally let someone in and he left." Brian realized how he sounded and his face hardened. "I have to go. I have to put this lube to use." And with that, he was gone, disappeared into the crowds. "Oh, Gus, what are we going to do with those two?" Lindsay sighed and kissed her son. There had to be something that she, Mel, and the boys could do. They had to bring the light back to Brian and Justin's eyes. "Cheese, mummy!" Gus giggled. Lindsay laughed and continued her shopping, the entire time her mind was on how to get Brian and Justin back together. "Hey, Ty." Justin said as he slipped into the booth at the diner. He was still shaken at seeing Brian. They had seen each other at Babylon, but had avoided each other. Justin would usually see Brian right when he got there, and then not see him again for the rest of the night. "Hey." Ty said. He was also preoccupied. "My mom called today. She talked to your mom." Ty's voice was flat. "Oh, no." Justin breathed. "What did she say?" Ty looked up at his cousin. Justin could see the wetness in his eyes. "She told me never to come home. She said that I chose this lifestyle and I can live with that. She said I'm welcome to come home when I'm married to a nice girl." Ty's body started to shake. Justin knew what he was feeling exactly. Being told that your parent's love is conditional is the hardest thing a person can hear. "Oh, Ty." Justin reached across and held Ty's hand while he let the tears flow. Ty wasn't afraid to show emotions, even in public. "Don't worry. You still have me and mom and Molly. We'll adopt you as part of our little family." "Thanks, man." Ty said wiping his eyes. Knowing that his cousins and his aunt were there for him made him feel a little better. When Debbie came over to get their orders, Ty ordered just a cup of coffee. "Ok, sugar." Debbie turned to Justin. "What can I get ya, Sunshine?" "Turkey sandwich on rye. And a Pepsi." Justin said. "Thanks, Deb." "You two are a sorry sight." Debbie looked from Justin to Ty and back noticing that they were both troubled. "Just one of those days, Deb. Bad moon." Justin said. He watched Debbie walk away without another word and his thoughts were back to Brian. Was it possible that, by leaving that morning after they were together again, he had hurt Brian? Emmett said that he was the chink in Brian's armor, what did that mean? "You saw Kinney." Ty said seeing Justin's face. The look in his eyes showed that he was conflicted. "Did he say anything to you?" "Just 'hi'." Justin said. He didn't look up, just kept staring at the table trying to figure out how to handle the Brian situation. When Debbie brought his lunch, he only picked at it. He wasn't sure why nothing tasted good anymore. "I have had enough of this!" Emmett exclaimed as he, Lindsay, Melanie, and Ted sat around the dining room table at Linds and Mel's place. They were all tired of dealing with Brian's moods and seeing Justin a mess. "Well, what can we do?" Melanie asked. She had to admit that she actually liked Brian when he was with Justin. She wanted to help just as much as everyone else. "How about a party?" Emmett suggested. "We can invite them both, and just pray that they talk to each other." "I don't think Brian would stay if Justin was there." Ted said. "Em, you've seen him at Babylon. As soon as he sees Justin he leaves. He won't even go to Woody's anymore now that Ty works there." "Why don't we just lock them in a confined space until they talk it out?" Melanie suggested. "If they won't be in the same room together long enough to talk, we can force them to be." "Ooh, I like that idea!" Emmett exclaimed clapping his hands together. Lindsay just sat quietly watching the exchange. She was surprised that everyone was as insistent as she was about getting Brian and Justin back together. "We could say that something happened to Gus. Get them both over here." Ted said. Melanie looked a little skeptical. "Do you think they would hate us for using Gus to get to them?" She asked. Everyone pondered for a second. It was now that Lindsay finally spoke up. "If Brian thought something happened to Gus he would be right over. We could tell Justin that something happened to my mother or something and we need him to watch Gus." She said. "Once they get here we could lock them in Gus's room." "Woo, Lindsay!" Emmett waved his hand dramatically. "Now you're talking." He paused thoughtfully. "Do you think it will work? Do you think our divine intervention could get them back together?" "And what about Ty?" Ted asked. "Justin is with him 24/7." "Don't worry, he's not Justin's boyfriend." Lindsay ran her hand through her hair. "When I talked to Justin today I told him to come over for dinner and bring his boyfriend. He was clueless as to who I was talking about." "So, why don't we do it right now?" Ted said. "We can get them over here, and back together and be out of here in time to go to Babylon." "Is that all you think about?" Melanie smacked Ted across the back of the head. Ted looked over at her and grinned. It was all he thought about. "Yup. Sure is." Ted said with a grin. Lindsay grabbed the phone and returned to the table. "Ok, which one do I call first?" She asked as she prepared to dial. Everyone agreed that she should call Justin first, it would be easier to keep him here. "No giggling." She warned looking at Emmett. Justin answered the phone on the first ring. "Hello." He said. "Hi, Justin. It's Lindsay. Could you come over? My mother had an accident and me and Mel have to go to the hospital right away." Lindsay did her best to make her voice sound panicked. Justin bought it. "Give me ten minutes!" He said before hanging up. "Score!" Lindsay said after pressing the end button. Next was the call to Brian. "Bri, I need you to come over. Gus had a nightmare and he's calling for his daddy. He won't calm down. He keeps screaming for you." "I'll be right over, Linds." Brian said. He also hung up without saying good-bye. The plan was working to perfection. So they waited. Once Justin arrived they dragged him upstairs to Gus's room and held his mouth. He didn't know what was going on, but he didn't like it. Not one bit. Brian arrived only a few minutes later. Lindsay greeted him at the door and, though he had been ready to hurry upstairs and comfort his son, he stopped. "I don't hear any screaming, Peterson." Brian growled. "Maybe he can sense that you're here." Lindsay thought quickly. "He stopped crying as soon as the doorbell rang." "Next time try ringing the doorbell before you drag me all the way over here." Brian said before starting up the stairs to see his son. When he got to the doorway, he saw Emmett hurrying out of the room. Before he could react, he was shoved into Gus's bedroom and the door was slammed behind him. "What the fuck is this?" Brian demanded seeing Justin lying on the floor. A shadow of realization came to his face. "They're trying to get us back together." He sneered. 'Don't you idiots know that Justin has a boyfriend?" He called loudly. "No, I don't." Justin said quietly. Brian spun around to look at him. His eyes were clouded with confusion. He quickly hardened his exterior. "Then what the fuck is Ty? Your fuck buddy?" Brian was pacing now. Justin could tell her was agitated. Justin sighed and decided that it was time to tell Brian the real story. "He's my cousin." "Your what?" Brian stopped pacing and stood stalk still while he stared at Justin. Justin took a deep breath and started from the beginning. "When you threw me out for some trick, I was so hurt." Justin took a deep breath knowing that Brian was going to let him purge everything he had been holding in. "While I was waiting for a cab outside, I saw him coming. I couldn't believe that my own cousin was the trick I was getting ousted for. "When I told him what happened, he decided to get you back. He pulled me upstairs and told me to play along. I have to give him snaps, he knew just what to sat to get to you. I could see the nerve above your eyebrow twitching. That always happens when someone is really getting to you. When you told me that you didn't want him to see me anymore, I decided to give you a taste of your own medicine. I started being seen with Ty everywhere. "Soon everyone started thinking that we were a thing, kind of like some people used to think of you and Michael, and I just never corrected them. The only person who knows that Ty is my cousin in Deb." Justin sighed. "Why did you leave that night?" Brian asked quietly. He had softened hearing that he had hurt him to the point where Justin needed to hurt him back. "I was scared." Justin admitted. "It's like you need me for a little while and then you throw me out of your life again." Justin turned and looked out the window. "I fucked you up." Brian said solemnly. He thought to himself that by wanting Justin back, by planning to woo him and make everything perfect, he was only being selfish. Every time Justin let himself trust Brian, he got it thrown back in his face. Justin turned to look at him with wide eyes; he wanted to tell him that it wasn't his fault. Brian was already gone. He had slammed his body against the door sending it flying open. He felt like a caged animal, caged by his mistakes. He had to get out. "Brian!" Lindsay called. "Brian!" She watched him get in his Jeep and pull out of the driveway recklessly. "Briaaaaaannnn!" She screamed as she saw the Jeep lose control. "Nooooo!" There was the sound of crunching metal and breaking glass, and then there was silence but for Lindsay's cries. As she ran over to where the Jeep lay crumpled, she cried and cried. "No! Brian! No!" Justin's cries echoed Lindsay's as he too joined her in the street. When he saw Brian, blood pouring from his head, eyes closed, chest heaving far too quickly he turned and threw up. Soon, he was in the comfort of Melanie's arms as the sirens came closer and closer. The ambulance came to take Brian away. NEXT |