This story takes place after episode 313. I was delighted to hear Brian’s declaration that he considered Justin his ‘boyfriend’. I couldn’t miss my chance to let Justin know about it. Plus, I think Justin and Hunter could become friends, under the proper circumstances. I hope you enjoy my take on what might happen if the two of them were alone together.

Two Teenagers Sitting Around Talking

by Cathy

I have to admit that I was a little surprised when my phone rang. I answered it quickly, hoping it was Brian. That’s not unusual: every time my phone rings, I hope it’s Brian. Imagine my surprise when I heard Michael’s voice. ‘I-I have to go to the hospital… Can you come over to the store?’

His voice sounded weird. ‘Sure. I’ll be there in ten minutes.’

I made it in seven. When I walked in, he was standing just inside the door. ‘My mom cut her hand at work.’ His hands were shaking as he pulled his coat on.

‘Ohmygod!’ Somehow, I thought it was Ben, not Debbie. ‘Is she going to be okay?’

‘I think so.’ He opened the door. ‘Uncle Vic said she might need stitches.’

‘Michael…’ Turning away from the door, he looked at me. ‘Give her a hug from me.’

He nodded, absent-mindedly. ‘I called Ben and he’s coming over as soon as he gets out of class,’ the words were tumbling out, ‘but I don’t know how long I’ll be…’

‘It’s okay,’ I said. ‘I have plenty of free time.’ He was still standing in the doorway, looking like he wanted to say something else. ‘Go on,’ I pushed him gently, ‘and take care of her.’ He stepped outside and started walking quickly up the street.

I turned around and surveyed Michael’s small domain. There were only a couple of guys there so early in the afternoon. Walking over to the counter, I opened my portfolio and pulled out several partially finished panels. Thank God I’d remembered to bring something to do.

The time passed quicker than I thought it would. I’d had more customers than I expected, although not all of them bought something. Several of them just wanted to hang out. When they saw that Michael wasn’t there, they left. One guy stayed around to chat when he discovered I was the artist for the Rage comics. He wouldn’t stop asking questions about the next issue. I finally told him that Michael would kill me if he found out that I’d given away any of his secrets. As he headed out the door, I couldn’t help smiling at the idea that *anyone* would be afraid of Michael Novotny.

An hour or so later, I was in the back scavenging for something cold and carbonated to drink when I heard the bell on the door. ‘Michael?’ I’d recognize that voice anywhere.

I stepped back through the doorway and behind the counter. ‘Michael’s not here.’

Hunter had collapsed onto the couch and was looking at me as if he’d caught me robbing the place. ‘Where is he? What’re *you* doing here?’

‘His mom had an accident at work and he had to go to the hospital. He asked me to watch the shop ‘til he gets back.’

‘Well,*I’m* here now.’ He stood up and walked toward me. ‘You can leave.’

‘I don’t think so.’ I looked up at him. ‘I told him I’d stay.’

‘Who are you?’ His tone was accusatory. ‘Are you a friend of Michael’s?’

‘You could say that.’ I wasn’t about to go into the history of Michael and me to this kid.

We stared at each other for a long minute before I decided to act like a grown-up. After all, we might be stuck here for a while. ‘I’m Justin.’ I didn’t think he’d shake my hand, so I didn’t offer it. Instead, I started picking up the drawings I’d spread over the counter.

‘What are those?’ He was trying to pretend disinterest, but I could tell he was curious.

‘These?’ I held up the sexiest sketch I had of Rage. ‘They’re preliminary drawings for the next issue of the comic book--’

‘Michael’s comic?’ He interrupted.

‘Yeah,’ I nodded. ‘His and mine. He writes the story and I do the artwork.’ He was trying to look at the other panels. ‘Wanna see?’ He examined each drawing carefully.

‘That character - Rage?’ He was still looking at the sketch. ‘Michael told me he was based on Brian. Is that true?’ I nodded. ‘Was it his idea? Or yours?’

‘Both of ours, actually.’ I looked at the drawing. ‘We decided to create a gay superhero and Brain seemed to be the perfect person to use as a model.’ Thumbing through the other panels, I selected one and held it out. ‘This guy’s name is Zephyr. Who do you think he’s modeled after?’

He examined the drawing of Rage and Zephyr closely. ‘I don’t know.’ He looked up.

‘Michael,’ I said, simply. ‘Zephyr is Rage’s best friend. He always supports him, no matter what.’

Hunter considered this. ‘Brian and Michael are best friends like that?’

I nodded. ‘For longer than you’ve been alive. Hasn’t Michael told you the story of how they met when they were fourteen?’

‘No.’ He looked at me. ‘How long have you known them?’

I still wasn’t in the mood to tell Hunter our whole story but it was obvious that he didn’t know any of what had happened in the past few years. ‘I met Brian and Michael on the same night, almost three years ago. I was a senior in high school.’

‘How old are you now?’

‘Nineteen.’

‘You’re not that much older than me. Are you in college?’

Something else I didn’t want to talk about. ‘I was in art school.’

‘Was?’ he asked. ‘You’re not any more?’

‘No.’ I didn’t expand on my answer.

‘You’re a good artist.’ He looked at the drawings again. ‘Why did you quit?’

‘Let’s just say I’m taking some time off.’ I was intentionally vague.

‘Wait a minute!’ He stared at me. ‘I heard Michael telling Ben about someone they knew who got suspended from school for doing those posters of Stockwell. Was that you?’

I wouldn’t look at him.

‘Did you make the posters for Brian? Was it his idea?’

‘No!’ I said, sharply. ‘It was totally my idea. He didn’t find out about them until later.’

‘Yeah,’ he looked at me with a knowing smile. ‘I’m working on finding out who killed that kid, Jason. I want to help Brian find out the truth.’

He looked serious but I couldn’t help laughing. ‘You’re helping Brian ‘cause you want him to fuck you.’

He opened his mouth and I thought he was going to yell, but he didn’t. He tried to look nonchalant. ‘So what if I do? Don’t you?’

‘Don’t I what? Want him to fuck me?’ I shot back. ‘He already has, lots of times.’ I knew it was childish of me to say those last three words but I couldn’t help it.

‘You?’ He started laughing. ‘And Brian?’ He was giggling like a little kid.

I sat quietly as he got all the silliness out of his system. I hoped the look on my face was serene. Pausing for breath, he stood up and walked into the back room. He reappeared with a bottle of weird fruit juice that I’d seen in the fridge and collapsed on the couch. ‘I told you, that night at the loft.’

‘I remember.’ He nodded. ‘I thought you were lying.’

I used my most serious voice. ‘I never lie when Brian is involved.’

He took a drink of the juice. ‘How many times did you do it?’

‘Too many to count,’ I replied. I knew I had a self-satisfied smile on my face.

He had taken the bait. He sat forward on the couch, his face glowing with curiosity. ‘How was it? Is he, like, the best fuck ever?’

‘Yeah.’ I walked over slowly and sat down on the chair near him. ‘The best.’ He was staring at me, waiting to hear more. ‘He was my first, you know.’

He hesitated for a second before yelling, ‘Your first time was with him?’ He fell backwards, laughing. ‘I don’t believe it! Christ, what I wouldn’t give to have had someone that hot for my first time! Was it amazing?’

I nodded again. ‘Amazing is the right word.’

‘How did you meet?’ He was looking at me expectantly and I decided it wouldn’t hurt to tell him a little of the story.

‘As I said, I was a senior in high school. I came down to Liberty Avenue one night…’

He was hanging on every word. ‘How did you meet him?’

I shook my head. ‘I was standing on the street, trying to decide what to do. It was my first night here and I didn’t know where to go. This older guy had just tried to pick me up and I was a little rattled.’ I made a face and Hunter laughed. ‘All of a sudden, there was this totally hot guy standing right in front of me, really close. He was dressed all in black. If I leaned my face forward two inches, I could have licked the sweat off the hollow of his throat.’ I laughed. ‘If I’d been able to move, I might have run away, but I was paralyzed by the way he looked and smelled and sounded…’

‘What did he say?’ Hunter asked.

‘I don’t remember his exact words,’ I lied, ‘but he wanted to know if I had plans for the rest of the night - it was after two by then - and I said no. He told me he could change that.’ I grinned. ‘I would have gone with him if he’d never said a word to me. We got in his Jeep and a couple guys started yelling at him. I think they were supposed to go somewhere but he just blew them off…’

‘Michael?’ he asked.

‘Yeah, and Emmett and Ted. Do you know them?’

‘I’ve met Emmett. He’s funny.’

‘Yeah.’ I was hoping I’d told him enough so that he wouldn’t want to know any more.

No such luck. He started asking questions again. ‘Where did you guys go? Back to his place?’

I nodded. ‘I was really…’ I almost said scared, ‘nervous. Once we were inside, he told me to shut the door. I remember taking a deep breath as I pushed it closed. Whether things turned out good or bad, I knew I’d never be the same after that night…’ I didn’t say anything else. It felt like I’d already said too much.

Hunter didn’t answer right away. I was hoping that he’d realized I didn’t want to tell him any more.

Again, no such luck. He leaned forward again. ‘So… Tell me about it - did you fuck all night?’

‘Sorry,’ I shook my head, ‘but you’re not going to get me to tell you any more about that night, or any other night.’

His face got all pouty and, once again, I expected him to yell, but he didn’t. He half smiled. ‘But he *can* fuck all night, right? I mean, you *have*--’

‘Yes!’ I interrupted. ‘He can and we have… But he can also be very gentle and attentive--’ I stopped myself before I said anything I’d regret.

‘Yeah,’ he said, softly. ‘I believe that.’

Neither of us said anything right away. He seemed to be thinking about something. When he finally spoke again, he sounded thoughtful. ‘Then you must be his boyfriend…’

At first, I didn’t think I’d heard him right, but I knew I had. ‘Boyfriend?’ I laughed. ‘I thought you knew Brian better than that. Don’t you know he doesn’t ‘do’ boyfriends?’ I tried to sound like it was of no consequence to me.

‘That’s not what *I* heard.’ He sounded very sure of himself.

I didn’t want to sound desperate, but I had to know what he was talking about. ‘And what, exactly, did you hear? Did Michael say something about us?’

‘No,’ he said, simply. ‘It was Brian who said it.’

‘Said what?’ I wanted to shake him and make him tell me what he’d heard, but I managed to control myself. ‘That he had a boyfriend? When?’

‘That night I slept with the cop.’ I nodded. ‘When Brian took me back to Ben and Michael’s, they were really pissed. I expected Brian to leave, but he stayed, and he was actually on my side. Michael said I’d done it to impress Brian and Brian said I wouldn’t be the first one. What do you think he meant by that?’

‘Michael,’ I said, impatiently. ‘Haven’t you noticed how he lets Brian get away with shit?’

He considered this for a long minute. ‘I never thought about it but, you’re right. Michael gets all goofy when Brian is around.’

I waited for him to continue with his tale, but he didn’t say anything. I didn’t want him to know how eager I was to hear the rest of it, but I was too anxious to be subtle. ‘What happened next?’ He looked confused. ‘The night you fucked the cop?’ I prompted.

‘Oh. Yeah. Well, Michael and Ben were yelling and then Brian started yelling back. I guess Michael was trying to discourage me. He said Brian already had a boyfriend. I asked Brian if that was true and he said he did.’

‘He said he did what?’ Now it was *my* turn to be confused. ‘Have a boyfriend?’

‘Yeah.’ Hunter was speaking to me like *I* was the dumb teenager.

I knew I hadn’t misunderstood him, but my brain wasn’t processing it. I had to hear it again. ‘I’m sorry,’ I apologized, ‘but do you remember what he said?’

‘Sure,’ he shrugged. ‘He said, ‘In a non-defined, non-conventional way, yeah.’’

‘Those were his exact words?’

‘Yeah. At first, I thought he was kidding, but he talks like that sometimes, doesn’t he?’

‘Yeah,’ I said, my mind reeling. I sat there, rolling those words around in my mind, trying to get accustomed to how strange they sounded, and how wonderful.

‘Justin?’ I jerked myself out of my revelry and looked at Hunter. His face was close to mine and he was staring at me, hard. ‘Are you okay?’

I shook my head slightly, trying to act as if my world hadn’t shifted on its axis. Which it had. ‘Yeah.’ I cleared my throat and tried again. ‘Yes, I am.’

He smiled in relief. ‘You had a weird look on your face - I thought something was…’ his voice trailed off. ‘Wait a minute. You didn’t know, did you?’

‘Know what?’ I quickly decided that total ignorance was my only hope.

‘About the boyfriend thing that Brian said. You just told me that Brian doesn’t ‘do’ boyfriends. You didn’t know he admitted having one.’

‘I didn’t say--’

‘Michael and Ben didn’t tell you he said it. Brian didn’t tell you either, did he?’

Suddenly, I couldn’t look at him. I locked my gaze on my shoes and said nothing. I hated it that this kid knew about this and I didn’t.

I felt a hand on my arm, but I didn’t look up. ‘Listen,’ he spoke softly, ‘I haven’t said anything to anybody about it, and I won’t.’ I pulled my gaze up to meet his. ‘It can be our secret, okay?’

‘Okay.’ He smiled and I couldn’t help smiling too. ‘Thanks.’

‘Besides, you’re just helping him stay in practice until he’s ready for me.’ I stopped smiling and looked at him. He started laughing - probably at the shocked look on my face. That’s when I knew he was kidding, and I started laughing as well.

The jingle of the bell on the door interrupted our laughter. We both turned to see Ben and Michael walk in together. ‘How’s your mom?’ I asked.

‘Okay,’ he said. ‘Only four stitches. She’s at home now.’

‘Good,’ I replied.

I became aware that both Ben and Michael were looking at us as if they’d caught us doing something wrong. ‘What were you two laughing about?’ Ben was trying to sound casual. ‘Why don’t you tell us the joke so we can laugh too?’

Hunter and I looked at each other and smiled. ‘It wasn’t a joke,’ he said.

‘And it wasn’t even funny,’ I agreed. I picked up my portfolio from the counter, grabbed by coat and walked to the door. ‘I’ve gotta get home. I promised to help Daphne study for a comp test. See you guys later.’

‘Thanks again, Justin,’ Michael said.

‘See you, Justin,’ Ben called out after me.

As I shut the door and walked into the late afternoon coolness, I heard Hunter laughing again.

I almost made it to the end of the next block before I had to sit down. The full impact of what Hunter had said was finally sinking in. As I sat down on a bench, I became aware that my knees were weak, my hands were shaking and my mouth was dry. I considered trying to make it to the diner, where I could get something to drink but I decided against it. Better to just sit for a few minutes and try not to think about anything.

Of course, the more I tried not to think about Brian and what he’d said, the more consumed I became by it.

Brian had admitted having a boyfriend. Okay, he hadn’t actually shared this information with me… yet.

Who am I kidding? He’ll never tell me. If it hadn’t been for my accidental conversation with Hunter, I might never have found out.

I wondered if Brian was home. Maybe I should go over and see him. Tell him…

Tell him what? That I knew what he’d said about us? That, even though I’ve known it for a long time, it meant a lot to me that he’d finally admitted it?

He didn’t say it to me, though.

Suddenly, it didn’t sound like such a good idea to see Brian. I’m not sure I could act as if nothing had happened. I was afraid he’d take one look at my face and know…

I decided to put off seeing Brian until later. And, when I saw him, I had to act as if nothing had happened between us, because nothing had.

When I was sure that all the shakiness had subsided, I stood up and continued walking up the street, to Daphne’s. I might tell her my news, but only after I’d sworn her to complete secrecy.

As for Brian, I was sure that acting as if nothing’s changed between us was the only way I could proceed. I don’t have to act as if I don’t know he loves me, though, because I know he does.

And he knows that I know.

For the time being, that’s going to have to be enough.

- the end -