The Wish - Part 12

“Oh my God!  Are you ok?”  Nicholas stared at his friend with a shocked expression on his face as Justin finished telling him about what happened at his prom.

“Yeah, I’m fine.  Just a little shaken up, I guess,” Justin replied. 

“What about your arm?” Nicholas traced a finger along the bandages on Justin’s arm.

“It should be fine in a week or two.”  Justin shrugged it off like it was no big deal.

“My God, Justin.  You could have been killed.”

“I was lucky that Brian was there,” Justin said.

“Brian?”

“Yeah.  This guy was there at the parking garage.  Brian Kinney.  He saw Hobbs coming after me and warned me.  He helped me.  Saved my life,” Justin smiled slightly at the memory of his first night with Brian. 

“Brian Kinney?”  Nicholas looked at him in disbelief.

“Yeah.”

“Brian Kinney saved your life?”

“Yeah,” Justin replied again.  “Why?  You know him?”

“Ha!” Nicholas shook his head, “I wish.”  When Justin looked at him puzzled, he explained, “The man is legendary on Liberty Avenue.  He has a rep for being the best fuck in Pittsburgh.  Maybe even the whole state of Pennsylvania.”

“Oh.”  A small smile spread across Justin’s lips and even though it was brief, Nicholas noticed it.

“You didn’t.”

“Did what?” Justin tried to give him his best innocent look.

“Oh my God!  You did!  You fucked Brian Kinney!”

Justin blushed as he looked around the coffee shop to make sure that nobody heard his friend.  When he turned back around he knew that there was no point in stalling the inevitable.  “Well, technically he fucked me, but…”

Getting over the initial shock Nicholas got to the more pressing issue.  “So, how was he?”

“I’m not telling.”  No matter how hard he tried, Justin couldn’t keep the smile off his face.

“Oh, come on.  Share with your less fortunate friend,” Nicholas pleaded.

“Well, let’s just say…he lives up to his legend,” Justin’s smile got even wider.

~~~

“You know, I don’t really feel comfortable coming here to look for your one night stand,” Daphne said to her friend as they walked inside Woody’s. 

“Not just one and we’re not here to look for him,” Justin replied.  Despite his comment, the moment he was inside he scanned the crowd for his knight in shining armor.

“Yeah, right.  And what do you mean ‘not just one’?” Daphne turned to him.  “Justin!” She tried to get his attention.

“What?”

“How many times?”

“Uhm…five…no…six.  Yeah, six,” Justin replied, turning his attention back to the crowd.  He smiled when his eyes fell on a tall, slender figure in the corner of the bar.  “There he is,” Justin motioned in Brian’s direction.

Daphne followed his gaze to see a tall man standing in the far corner.  “Oh, wow.  He definitely is gorgeous.  But he’s so thin,” she said turning back to him.  Since Justin couldn’t draw because of his arm all Daphne had to go on for the last two weeks was Justin’s description of the mystery man. 

Justin didn’t hear her last comment because his eyes met a pair of hazel ones across the room. 

“Hey,” Justin said as soon as the two of them reached the pool table.

Brian bit his lower lip in order to hide the smile that was threatening to spread on his lips as soon as he saw Justin.  “Hey,” he finally said when he had the smiling problem under control.

“Hi, guys,” Justin waved to Emmett and Ted who stood on the other side of the table.

Ted nodded in response.  Emmett, who has become very fond of the blonde boy in the last two weeks, walked over and gave his baby a big hug and a peck on the cheek.

“This is Daphne,” Justin introduced his best friend to the group.

Daphne waved to all of them with a huge grin on her face. 

“You want to play pool?  We need a fourth person,” Ted asked the newly arrived member of their group.

“Sure,” Justin replied excitingly.

“Do you even know how?” Brian scoffed.

Justin shrugged, “How hard can it be?  You hit a ball with a stick.  You don’t have to be a genius to do THAT.  Besides, I’m sure YOU can teach me.”  He licked his lips, not taking his eyes off Brian.

All Brian wanted to do at that moment was to grab the artist’s arm, drag him to his jeep, take him to the loft, and fuck his brains out.  But the young man wanted to play.   

“Ok, little boy.  Grab a stick,” Brian said, smirking, as he put his beer on the table and walked over to Justin.

Justin took the cue stick, positioning it on the table.  He felt Brian’s dick pressing against his ass as Brian pressed close against him, showing him how to correctly grip the stick.  Brian was in the process of lining up a shot for Justin when he felt Justin’s whole body stiffen under his touch.  He looked at Justin’s face to see what was wrong.  He noticed Justin looking at something…someone.  He followed his gaze to see a young man about Justin’s age, maybe a few years older, walking toward them. 

“Hi,” Caleb said, staring at Justin.

Justin straightened up and moved out of Brian’s embrace.  “How…how are you?” He was able to utter.

Caleb looked around at the group uncomfortably, then back at Justin.  “Can we talk?” He motioned for the exit.

Justin looked up at Brian, then nodded.  He put the stick down on the table, shot a glance at Daphne, and then followed Caleb out.

Brian watched the two young men walk away, not sure what to make of a twinge in the pit of his stomach.

“Who’s that?” Ted asked.

“He looks delicious enough to eat,” Emmett added, eyeing the stranger.  The comment earned him a glare from Brian.

“Justin’s ex,” Daphne explained.

Brian grabbed the bottle of beer and took a chug out of it, trying to hide what he was feeling from the rest of the group.

As soon as they were outside, Caleb turned to Justin.  “Nick told me what happened,” he said.  “Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”  Justin nodded.

“I’m sorry.  I shouldn’t have left you alone there.  I don’t know what I was thinking.” 

“Cale, it wasn’t your fault.”  Justin moved closer to the other man.  “You couldn’t have known.  Besides, I’m ok.  My arm’s pretty much healed up.”  He took another step closer.  “I’m ok,” he repeated.

Caleb sighed.  He stared into the blue eyes of his former lover.  “I miss you”.

Justin looked up at him, smiled slightly.  “I miss you too.”

Caleb motioned toward the bar.  “That guy treating you alright?”

“Oh, Brian?  It’s not…I mean…it’s nothing serious or anything like that.  We just…you know…”

“Fuck?” Caleb smiled sadly.

Justin smiled as well.  “Yeah.  And we hang out a little, but it’s nothing serious.”

“You never know.”

Just then Brian showed up in the doorway.  Justin looked at him, then at Caleb, then back at Brian again.  Brian walked down the stairs.  Walking up to him he put his hand on Justin’s neck.  He leaned in, planting a kiss on Justin’s temple.  “Later, Sonnyboy.”  He smirked at Caleb, turned around, and walked toward his Jeep.

‘Fuck’, Justin thought as he watched Brian drive away.  He was sure that Brian did not appreciate Justin’s ex showing up in his life.  Things were already complicated enough. 

“He’s hot,” Caleb said, getting Justin’s attention. 

Justin’s only reply was a faint smile.

“I’ll see you around?” Caleb said. 

Justin nodded.  Caleb smiled back at him again and left.

~~~

“Can I help you?” Debbie asked a woman who just walked into the diner.  It was obvious that the woman had never set a foot on Liberty Avenue before.

“Oh, yes.  I’m looking for my son,” Jennifer said.  “Justin Taylor.”

Debbie smiled, “You’re Sunshine’s mom.”

“Sunshine?” Jennifer asked confused.

“That’s what I call Justin,” Debbie said, extending her hand, “I’m Debbie.”

“Oh,” Jennifer forced out a smile and shook the other woman’s hand, “Jennifer.”

“Mom?”

Both women turned around to see Justin gaping at his mother.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, getting over the initial shock of seeing his mother here.

“I…I just wanted to…see where you work, that’s all,” Jennifer said walking over to her son.

Justin looked around embarrassed.  “Well, now that you have, can you please leave?”

“Hey!  Don’t talk to your mother that way,” Debbie chastised him.  “You want some coffee?” she asked Jennifer. 

“I gave up coffee,” Jennifer replied.

“Of course you did.  How about some tea?”

Jennifer nodded as she sat down on one of the stools.

Justin sighed loudly for a dramatic effect as he walked over and sat next to his mother.  Suddenly he felt two arms wrapped around his shoulders. “Busy tonight?” he heard Brian murmur in his ear.  Trying to ignore his instantly hard cock, Justin pulled away from Brian, only to have Brian’s hand travel down his back to his butt.  “Uh…” he cleared his throat.  “Brian?  This…this is my mother.”

Only then did Brian notice a blonde woman sitting next to Justin, staring intently at the two of them. 

When he realized that Brian wouldn’t say anything, Justin turned to his mother.  “Brian was the one who saved my life.”

“Oh,” Jennifer seemed to snap out of the shock of seeing a stranger with his arms around her son.  “Uhm…Thank you,” she held out her hand.  Brian glanced at Justin, then at Debbie.  He took Jennifer’s hand and shook it slightly.  “Thank you,” she said again.  Not knowing what to say, Brian just nodded.

The four of them sat in an uncomfortable silence for a moment. 

“So, are you two…uhm…dating now?” Jennifer asked, staring at the man sitting next to her son.

Justin cringed at the mention of that word, knowing full well what Brian’s reaction would be.  He glared at Debbie when she snorted out a laugh.

There was another uncomfortable moment before Jennifer opened her purse to pay for the tea

“It’s on the house,” Debbie smiled at her.

“Thank you,” Jennifer said to Debbie.  “I should get going,” she said to Justin, getting up.  “I’ll see you at home, sweetheart.” 

Justin turned even a deeper shade of red as his mother gave him a peck on the cheek in front of everybody in the diner, including Brian.  Saying one more thank you to Brian, Jennifer finally made her exit.

“Well, that was fun,” Debbie said to the two of them still sitting at the counter.  She picked up her order pad and moved to newly arrived customers.

Just wanting to get it over with Justin dared to look up at Brian.  He was sure that the blank look on Brian’s face was hiding a very pissed off man underneath.  “You want something?” he asked.

“The usual,” Brian spat out without looking at the blonde.

Justin nodded, sighed, cast one last look at Brian, and headed to the kitchen to place his order.

Brian paid and left without another word.

~~~

When Justin got home he found his mother sitting in the kitchen, lost in her thoughts.  Hoping to avoid the conversation that he knew was coming, Justin opened the fridge and looked around for something.

“Are you seeing him?”

Justin got out a can of Coke, closed the fridge, and turned around.  “What?”

“That…Brian.  Are you seeing him?” She asked again.

“No…well…it’s complicated.”  He sat down across the table from her.

“How complicated can it be, Justin?  You’re either seeing him or not,” she insisted.

“It’s just complicated, ok?”  Justin wanted out of this conversation.  He took a sip of soda.

“He’s a lot older than you.”

He shrugged his shoulders.  “Not really.”

“How old is he?”

“Thirty.”

Jennifer’s eyes got wider, “That’s old, Justin.  Too old.  For you.”

“Mom!”  He put the can down and got up.

“What about Caleb?  He seemed nice.  He cared about you.”

Justin sighed, wondering how he could make her understand what he was feeling.  “That wasn’t the problem.”

“What is the problem, Justin?”

“He wanted too much.  I don’t need to be tied down right now.  I don’t want that.“

“And you want that Brian?”

He was getting aggravated.  “You keep calling him ‘that Brian’.  It’s just Brian, mom!  And yes, I do.  And there is absolutely NOTHING you can do about THAT!”  With that he stormed out of the townhouse.

~~~

Justin scanned the dancing crowd looking for one man in particular.  He had to find him.  Had to talk to him.  First Brian meets Caleb.  Now he meets Justin’s mother?  Justin knew that none of it was in Brian’s plans and he didn’t blame the man for getting defensive.  But he had to explain to him that it wasn’t some sort of a set up.  That Justin wasn’t trying to trap him.

He saw Brian in the middle of the dance floor kissing some guy.  Without a second thought Justin made his way through the crowd toward him. 

“Hey,” Justin said.

Brian pulled away from the trick and looked at him.  “What the hell do you want?”

Justin shrugged, taken aback by Brian’s coldness.  “Just…you know…to see if you had any plans…for tonight.”  Suddenly coming after Brian didn’t sound like such a good idea.

Brian looked at him then back at his trick.  It had been a little over two weeks and things had already gotten way too complicated for his taste.  He knew he should never have fucked Justin more than once, but he just couldn’t get away from the blonde.  He knew whatever illusions Justin seemed to have about the two of them had to be shattered, done away with.  “I found something better.” He pulled the trick away from Justin and into the backroom.

Justin felt like somebody had punched him in the stomach, leaving him gasping for air.  What did he expect?  This was Brian Kinney.  The legendary Brian Kinney, according to Nicholas.  Why would Brian bend his rules for some blonde twink? 

All he wanted right now was to get to the bar as fast as he could and get wasted.  But when he turned around the first thing he saw was Caleb’s face.

~~~

The moment the two of them got out of the club he knew that it was a bad idea, but for some reason his legs still carried him down Liberty Avenue toward Caleb’s place.  Now that he lay in Caleb’s bed he knew that he made a huge mistake.  Both of them were silent, not really sure what to say. 

Justin looked at the watch on his wrist, “It’s late.  I should go.”  He sat up and started pulling his jeans on.

Caleb didn’t say anything.  Just silently watched Justin get dressed. 

Justin pulled his shirt on and turned around, staring down at his former lover.  “I’m sorry, Cale.  This…it shouldn’t have…”

“Don’t,” Caleb cut him off.  “You weren’t the only one here.”

“I know, but…”

“Justin, don’t,” Caleb said again.  “Just…don’t.”

Justin looked away, hating the hurt he saw in his ex-lover’s eyes.

“You should go,” Caleb whispered.

Justin just nodded his head and then left without another word.

~~~

When he walked down the stairs for breakfast the next morning he found his mother once again sitting at the kitchen table.  He felt like he owed her something…an explanation…anything…for everything he had put her through with his father…for everything that happened since he came out.  He grabbed a chair next to her and sat down.

“I know you worry about me,” he began, “but you don’t have to.  Not anymore.  I know what I’m doing, mom.  And even if I don’t, there’s nothing you can do to make it better or easier.”  When he saw that she didn’t make any attempts to interrupt him, he continued, “I just have to find my own way.  Please, mom.  You have to let me find my own way.”  He sighed, thinking of the night before and the mess he had made with both Brian and Caleb.  “I don’t know what’s gonna happen with Brian.  I know that I like him.  A lot.  But that’s all I do know.  And it’s fine with me.  Because I have time.  Time to figure it all out.”  He waited for his mother to say something.  When nothing came, he added, “You just have to trust me, mom.  Please.  Just trust me.”

Jennifer stared back at her son.  She knew he was right.  She couldn’t protect him from the world anymore.  He was eighteen years old.  A man.  There was nothing she could do to shield him from pain and hardships of the real world.  All she could do was to be there for him when he needed her.  And support him, no matter what.

“I trust you,” she said, pulling her son in for a hug.

~~~

He spotted Brian as soon as he walked inside the club.  The older man was leaning on the bar scanning the crowd.  Making a decision, Justin moved toward him.  He knew that it would be hard.  For some reason he was drawn to Brian.  It was more than attraction or great sex.  It was something different.  Something bigger.  Something he had never felt before.  But it had to end.  It had gotten too serious too quickly for both of them.  And it was scaring them both, leading to both of them doing something stupid, something they regretted.  He didn’t want to get hurt anymore.  And the only way to insure that was to make a clean break. 

Brian looked up at Justin.  “What do you want?”

Trying not to let Brian’s coldness get to him, Justin smiled.  “I still owe you a drink.”

Brian just stared at Justin who signaled for the bartender.

“Relax, Brian.  I know the score.”

Brian raised his eyebrow.  “You do?”  He sneered.

“You fuck a guy and move on.  Right?  That’s your motto.  I’m not trying to change that.”  Justin shook his head.  “That’s not what I want.  I’m not looking to get involved.”

Brian mulled it over for a moment, surprised at what Justin said.  “What ARE you looking for?”

Justin shrugged his shoulders, “A good time.”  Smiled.  “A good fuck.”

Brian snickered.

Just then the bartender finally came up to the two of them.  Justin motioned for Brian to place an order.

“Double Jim Beam,” Brian said.

“Same,” Justin added, placing a few bills on the bar.

When the bartender came back with their drinks, they both downed them, not speaking another word.  Justin put his glass down.  “See you around.”  He flashed one last smile at Brian and then walked away.

Brian watched him dancing with some guy.  His brain was telling him to walk away right now.  It had already gotten too complicated for him.  Something was drawing him to the blonde.  Something he couldn’t explain.  Something that couldn’t let him let go of the artist.  Something that made him walk toward the young man now.

He made his way through the dance floor and stood in front of Justin.  “I’m offering,” he said.

Justin stared at him, confused.

 “A good time.  And a good fuck.” 

Justin couldn’t keep himself from smiling.  Just moments earlier he was sure that he had lost Brian.  That was his plan.  To walk away from him.  To make it easier on both of them.  He did not expect Brian to come after him.  He knew he should tell Brian to forget it.  They shouldn’t do this…whatever it was that was happening between them.  But they were being pulled toward each other by some mystical force and he couldn’t fight it.

Brian held out his hand.

Justin stared at him, trying to make a decision.  It didn’t have to get complicated, didn’t have to be more than just a fuck.  Not unless they wanted it to be.  And neither of them did.  There was nothing to worry about.

He put his hand into Brian’s and they made their way out of the club.

Go to Part 13

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