Author: Tina
Homepage: http://www.oocities.org/weird4182/index.html
LiveJournal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/weirdqafan/
Pairing: Brian and Justin
Rating: R
Category: AU, Drama
Summary: Someone pays Justin a visit.
Warnings: None
Spoilers: Seasons 1-3
Disclaimer: If this were a utopian world they could belong to all of us, but it’s not, so they don’t. Sadly, they belong to Cowlip.
Feedback: Yes, please. Send it to Weird4182@yahoo.com
Author's Notes: Post Season 3. Brian & Justin were never caught doing the anti-Stockwell campaign. Brian’s still partner at Vanguard, as well as financially sound, & Justin’s still at PIFA, as a junior.
~*~
“Good Morning Sunshine.”
Justin slowly opened his eyes. Brian was standing beside his bed fully dressed. He glanced at the clock and saw that it was 7:30am.
“Ugh! It’s too early, especially for a Saturday!” He groaned as he shoved his head back under his pillow. Brian reached under the pillow and began to massage the back of Justin’s neck.
“Well, I have a breakfast meeting with Vance to go over staff evaluations and this was the only day and time we were both available. I‘ve got to get back to the loft to change.”
“Don’t blame me. You were the one who insisted on having to spend the night after dinner.”
Brian smirked at Justin’s back. “Yeah, you were really trying hard to dissuade me.”
Justin finally emerged from his cocoon and looked at Brian. “If you had some clothes here, you wouldn’t have to leave so early.”
Brian pinched Justin’s butt.
“Smartass.” He smiled at Justin. “I’ll have to do that. Are you working today?”
Justin closed his eyes and tried to remember his schedule with his sleep-filled brain.
“Uh…the afternoon/dinner shift. Do you want to meet at the diner for lunch before I start.”
“Sure. How about 1:00?”
“Sounds good.” Justin smiled mischievously. “And no fashionably late entrances. My shift starts at 2.”
“Will do Sunshine.”
Brian leaned down to gently kiss Justin good-bye. As he began to pull away, Justin grasped the back of Brian’s head and began to explore Brian’s mouth with his tongue. He only let go when they were both breathless. Brian rested his forehead against Justin’s while he caught his breath.
“See you at 1. Later.”
“Later.”
About five minutes after Brian left, there was a knock on Justin’s door. Daphne stuck her head in.
“Ya decent?”
“Close enough. Come in.”
She flopped down on the edge of his bed and looked at Justin closely.
“So how’d it go?”
“How did what go?”
Daphne rolled her eyes. “Justin, don’t insult my intelligence and quit acting like your hair color. I know that you had planned to have dinner with Alex last night and Brian just left this morning. That would lead one to assume that you had dinner last night with both Alex and Brian. Also given that Alex met you yesterday in the diner, where I’m sure at the very least Deb was present, as well as some of the guys, it’d be a safe bet to say that Brian now knows about Alex, and at least demanded an explanation. So, how did it go?”
Justin stared at Daphne in amazement for a second. “Are you sure you prefer medicine over Journalism? You’d make a great investigative reporter. Or maybe you should be a lawyer.”
Daphne threw a pillow at Justin’s head. “Stop trying to change the subject and tell me damnit!”
Justin took a deep breath. “It seemed to go alright, but I’m not really sure. Brian didn’t really want to talk after Alex left and I haven’t spoken to her yet.”
“She didn’t mention anything to me about Brian except that he was taller than she thought he’d be.”
Justin threw the same pillow back at Daphne. “And here I thought you had an intuitive knack for figuring things out. She called you last night?”
Daphne hugged the pillow to her chest. “As always. Plus, she knew I had that theater history mid-term and wanted to see how I did. I happened to mention Brian being here and she mumbled something about him being taller than she’d expected. When I asked if, when and how she met him, she changed the subject.”
Justin stared at his hands for a while before looking up to meet Daphne’s curious gaze.
“I want them to get along.”
“Of course you do.”
“I just don’t know how to accomplish that.”
Daphne stood up. “Well, while you ponder that I’m going to make breakfast.”
Justin watched as Daphne left the room. He was suddenly hit with the perfect plan. He laughed to himself.
‘If this doesn’t work, I’ll have to try locking them in a padded room together.’
~*~
Brian walked through the door and quickly scanned the diner for the familiar blond head. Not seeing Justin he grabbed a seat at the counter and observed the comings and goings of the diner’s clientele. He finally took notice of the redhead that was sitting the back booth. Brian hesitated. ‘What’s the worst that could happen, she tries to run me down? One Taylor already tried that and failed.’
Brian slid in the booth across from Alex. He watched her as she worked on a rather detailed sketch of the leather bear that was sitting at the counter. He waited but she didn’t acknowledge his presence.
“Not bad.”
“Thanks.”
“Is it for something specific?”
“A new TV show that Showtime’s producing. It’s supposed to replace ‘Gay as Blazes’.
Brian looked amused. “Tell them to add more sucking and fucking if they actually want queers to watch it.”
Alex finally looked up and smirked at Brian. “I’ll be sure to pass the message along.”
Alex continued drawing and Brian was taken aback at the similarities between Alex and Justin while sketching. Both scrunch up identical noses while working on details, both squint while shadowing and both bite their bottom lip the entire time while working. Thinking of Justin reminded Brian.
“Where’s your brother? I’m supposed to meet him for lunch.”
Alex stopped drawing and looked at Brian.
“You were meeting him for lunch? Here?”
“Yeah.”
Alex looked thoughtful. “What time?”
“We agreed to meet at one and the little twat even gave me shit about not being late.”
Alex smiled and then quickly began laughing. “That brat.”
Brian quirked an eyebrow. “What?”
Alex put her drawing away and folded her hands on the table.
“He called me this morning and asked me to meet him here. For lunch. At one. He even warned me that he might be late, so I should wait for him.”
“He’s not coming?” Brian more stated than asked.
“That would be my guess.”
“He set this up. Why, so we can bond?” Brian asked sarcastically.
Alex answered Brian seriously. “Probably.”
Brian grew quiet while assessing the situation. ‘Justin is in for some major punishment later.’ He glanced at Alex, who appeared to be waiting for him to make a decision. ‘I guess I can at least have lunch with her. Especially since I still owe Justin for blowing up the other night.’
“Are you two going to sit there and stare at each other or are you gonna order something.” Debbie stopped and asked.
Alex looked to Brian for his answer. He sighed.
“Turkey on whole wheat, no mayo and coffee.”
“Turkey, wheat, no mayo and coffee for Mr. Wonderful.” Deb smirked at Brian. “And what can I get for you, Rosey?” She smiled at Alex
“I’ll have a fruit salad with a bagel and cream cheese and an iced coffee, please.” Alex smiled back at Deb, who patted her cheek.
“Coming right up.”
Once they had their food, Alex addressed Brian.
“I’m going to take a stab in the dark and guess that you have questions for me.” She paused and Brian nodded. “So, lets make an agreement to be honest with each other and try to get to know each other. You can ask me what you want, although I may not answer everything you want to know, I will be truthful as long as you grant me the same courtesy for any questions I want to ask you, if it’s too personal, just tell me. Ok?”
“Okay.”
Alex sipped her coffee and looked at Brian. “I’ve got to tell you, I had actually heard about you before Justin ever met you.”
“Oh?”
“I’ve worked with some of the same actors and models that you have. I had heard your name mentioned a couple times.”
Brian’s right eyebrow rose as he smirked. “And what did these people say about me?”
Alex smirked right back at Brian. “All of the women say that you’re tragically gay and all of the men say that you’re tragically an asshole.”
Brian laughed. “I guess they’d be right, but I personally don’t think of it as a tragedy.”
“Of course not.”
Brian paused and thought of how he wanted to phrase one of the questions that had been in the forefront of his mind since he met her. “So where have you been?”
Alex looked at Brian with knowing eyes but asked him anyway. “Where was I when?”
“When Justin was…was hurt. It’s been almost two years and you show up now?” The more Brian thought about it, the more irritated he got. “Where the fuck have you been?”
Alex studied Brian quietly. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for second.
“NYU Medical Center.”
Brian looked up startled.
“What?”
“I was a patient at NYU Medical Center. I was released about a month ago.”
“Why the fuck were you in a hospital for nearly two years?”
Alex took another deep breath.
“It was a few days before Justin’s prom. I was at NYU. We were doing the light hang for our spring production of The Wiz. I was on the catwalk and I fell. About 20 feet. Onto the stage.”
“Damn.”
Alex smirked at Brian. “Yeah. I had multiple fractures in both legs, a bad neck injury, in addition to ‘massive head trauma’.”
“You could have been killed.” Brian stated.
“Yup. Obviously the fates had it out for the Taylor children that week.” She laughed, but it was lacking humor.
“You know how Justin has a gazillion and one allergies?” Brian nodded. “Well, we share some of those allergies, except I have one that is rather unique to me. After my fall, I was rushed to the emergency room. I wasn’t conscious, but apparently I was in pain, so they administered morphine.” Alex looked hard at Brian for a few seconds. “I’m allergic to morphine. I went into anaphylactic shock and had a seizure.”
Brian looked confused. “You don’t have a…”
“Medical Alert bracelet?” Brian nodded. “I do. Once I was in the ER, they removed my personal belongings, including my Medical Alert bracelet, without paying attention to what it was. I stabilized after the seizure and was taken to surgery immediately, to remove my ruptured spleen. Shortly after the surgery, before I had even regained consciousness yet, I developed a postoperative infection. Along with the infection came a fever. The hospital gave me acetaminophen to get rid of the fever.” Alex looked at Brian expectantly.
Brian stared at Alex with a look of realization on his face. “Shit, you’re allergic to Tylenol, too, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. Anaphylactic shock again, a seizure and then cardiac arrest. My body couldn’t handle it. A near fatal fall, surgery, two seizures and cardiac arrest. I wound up in a coma for about three months.
Brian watched Alex, absorbing what she was saying.
“I was bedridden for two more months after my coma, until my doctor realized that the fractures in my legs weren’t healing correctly. I had to undergo surgery to have the bones set properly. About six months after the surgery, I was finally able to begin physical therapy, which lasted a little over a year. I was finally deemed healthy and in perfect working order, so I got things settled in New York and came here.”
“Fuck!”
“Yeah well, it wasn’t exactly a picnic for me.”
Brian looked at Alex, the concern clear in his eyes. “Does Justin know?”
Alex nodded.
“I have a very close friend, Reid. We went to Cornell together and then we lived together while I attended Columbia’s Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and he attended Columbia’s School of Law. Next to Justin, he’s my best friend. He is also my lawyer. After he passed the bar, I had him draw up papers naming him as my emergency contact and giving him power of attorney. Justin was still a minor at the time, so I couldn’t name him.”
“Naturally.”
“Reid knew the situation and was given clear instructions that if something happened to me, he was to contact Justin immediately. Unfortunately, when I had my accident, Reid was visiting his family in San Francisco and the hospital was unable to get a hold of him until a few days later. By then, Justin was in the hospital here. Reid was able to get a hold of Daphne and told her what happened. Daph discussed it with Justin’s doctor once he began displaying signs that he was waking up. They decided that when Justin asked her about me, she would tell him that I was in the hospital in New York with a broken leg.”
Brian nodded. “I get it. It wasn’t exactly a lie, it just wasn’t the whole truth.”
“Yeah, it wouldn’t help him to know just how critical my condition was. He knew that I wouldn’t be able to call him with Jennifer around all the time, so he didn’t question it. Once he was released, Daph told him the truth and he understood. He wasn’t mad at her or his doctor, but he was really worried about me. That in addition to the aftereffects of his attack unfortunately provided him with some new fears and triggers to panic attacks.”
“What new fears?”
Alex picked at some of the fruit left on her plate. “His fear of heights and his fear of very large open rooms.”
Brian was confused. “He never said anything. But, wouldn’t the loft count as a large open room?”
“No. Larger rooms. Rooms that resemble a theater.”
Brian nodded his head. “That explains that dream.” He glanced at his hands. “Shortly after…” He made a gesture with his hand and Alex nodded in understanding. “He had a nightmare that he was staring in Romeo & Juliet. They were doing the balcony scene, and when he climbed up to meet Daphne, who was playing Juliet, he fell. And he just kept falling until he woke up. I wasn’t sure where that dream had come from, but a lot of his nightmares at the time didn’t make too much sense.”
Brian got caught up in thoughts and Alex watched him. ‘This isn’t so bad. She’s a lot like Justin, but she’s not nearly as annoyingly optimistic.’ Brian ran a hand through his hair studying her. ‘Christ! I still can’t believe that she was stuck in a fucking hospital for two years. I hope she sued the motherfuckers. Speaking of motherfuckers…’
“Are you planning to contact your parents while you’re here?”
Alex looked surprised and genuinely confused. “Why would I?”
Brian was speechless, unable to come up with any reason. Alex’s eyes took a hard edge to them as she began to explain.
“They don’t care. They could have found me if they wanted to, but it was easier for them both to pretend that I never existed. Honestly, to me, my parents are dead. The closest thing I have to parents are Daph’s. Josh and Dana have treated and loved me like their own daughter. That’s more than my parents showed me once they found out who I really was.”
Brian was surprised and he realized that although there were many similarities between her and Justin, there were also many differences.
As if reading his thoughts, Alex leaned forward and spoke. “Brian, I’m not Justin. He’s always had a bit of a ‘forgive and forget’ type of mind. I don’t. There’s no excuse or plausible reason for what they did.” Alex smirked. “I’ve always been a full believer in revenge and people getting what’s coming to them. That doesn’t exactly leave room for forgiveness.”
Brian raised an eyebrow, amused. “Revenge?”
“Revenge is some people’s way of dealing with things. It’s not an unhealthy form of closure as long as it doesn’t cross any illegal lines.” Alex looked at Brian intently. “Don’t tell that there isn’t someone out there, above all the rest, that you wouldn’t practically sell your soul, so that they could suffer.”
‘Oh I can definitely think of at least one.’ Brian thought as he said. “It doesn’t matter, since nothing will happen to him.”
“Who?”
Brian sighed in frustration. “Look, he did something that…he should be in jail, but he’s not. The system sucks and the system doesn’t work. There’s no point in telling you.”
Alex was relentless. “Who?”
Brian sighed again, this time in defeat. “Chris Hobbs.”
Alex smiled a sunshine smile broadly. “You’re right. The system sucks. That’s why, I went outside the system.”
Brian looked at Alex suspiciously. “What are you talking about?”
“As you might know, as a result of the injury that you gave Hobbs, he lost an athletic scholarship that he had been offered to Northwestern. After he completed his community service, his father was able to pull some strings and get the admissions committee to approve his acceptance to NYU for the following fall semester.”
Alex paused to sip her coffee, while Brian began to smile thinking of where this might be headed.
“However, once the Provost, the President, as well the Board of Trustees received detailed descriptions of Hobbs’ senior year activities, they rescinded their offer of admission. NYU is a very liberal and diverse school. There is even an Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Student Services. It was easy to convince all of the right people, that not only was there a good chance that Hobbs would strike out again, but that the school would be liable. And as things happen in social and work circles, people talk. Pretty soon word got around that Hobbs wasn’t an attractive academic candidate for any respectable school. Since then, Hobbs is having a lot of trouble finding any school willing to admit him. He is even having trouble finding any work above menial jobs, regardless of his fathers so-called connections.”
Brian was amazed. “Shit! I can’t believe you did that.” Brian felt relieved, as if a weight that he wasn’t even aware of had been lifted off his shoulders. “So what have you done to your parents?”
Alex was quiet for a moment. “To Jennifer, nothing. I’m sure that her guilt and self-loathing over what happened is worse than anything I could do.”
Brian’s eyes took on an eager gleam and he smiled mischievously. “What about Craig?”
Alex laughed at Brian’s anticipation. “In about a month, Craig is going to begin to undergo a severe audit, spanning the past fifteen years. It seems that even though Craig has not financially supported me in anyway since I was kicked out, he claimed me as a dependent on his taxes until I was twenty-one. And even though he refuses to help him with tuition or living expenses, he is continuing to claim Justin.”
‘Jeez, he’s an idiot.’ Brian thought. “So what’s that going to do to him?”
“He will face possible prison time and a hefty fine.” Alex responded.
“Are you sure it’s worth it? I mean, as a result, wouldn’t Molly be losing her father, like you and Justin did?” Brian asked, concerned about the little girl.
“No. Molly hasn’t seen Craig in about ten months. Apparently, most of the time that she spent with him, he was trying to convince her what monsters you and Justin were and how Jennifer was just as bad. Finally, Molly had enough and told him off. Said that she didn’t care what he thought of any of you and that she loved all of you just the same and he was the one with problems. The prick hasn’t bothered to visit or speak to her since.”
“What an asshole.” Brian agreed. “What about his child support?”
“Craig’s assets will be frozen, except for the amount necessary for him to live off of. This includes the amount to cover child support. If he misses one payment, Jennifer can then haul his ass back into court and get a new divorce settlement, where she will get everything. If this happens, then whatever fine Craig would have had to pay, will be translated into prison time.”
“Do you think that will happen?”
Alex thought about this for a moment. “I don’t know if he’s that stupid, but he might surprise us.”
Brian joined Alex’s laughter. “Not to sound redundant, but does Justin know?”
“Yes, Justin is very aware. He still had hope for Craig, but when he refused to pay his tuition again and Molly told him what Craig was saying to her, he finally lost hope that he’d ever get his father back. When he found out that Craig was claiming to pay his tuition, he told me to go for it. It was his choice.”
Brian looked at Alex solemnly. “Do me a favor. Remind me never to piss you off or if I do tell me and give me a chance to apologize.”
Alex shared a laugh with Brian. “So is there anything else you’d like to know? Or are we done with the inquisition for today?”
“It’s definitely been eye-opening.”
~*~
Justin stood hesitantly outside the diner door for a few minutes. Finally, he took a deep breath, squared his shoulders and walked in. It was five minutes until his shift started and there were few people in the diner. He was immediately able to spot familiar heads in the back booth. Justin cautiously approached the booth.
“Hey.” Justin said nervously.
“Hey yourself.” Brian grabbed a hold of Justin’s jacket and yanked him into the booth next to him. They kissed deeply for a few moments, until Alex’s discreet coughing reminded them where they were. Justin blushed.
“Hi Alex.”
“Hey Justy.”
Justin looked between Alex and Brian and tried to judge their expressions. Not being able to figure them out, he innocently asked, “So, how was lunch?”
Alex and Brian shared a look of mutual understanding and were silent for a few minutes. Eventually, Alex stood up. “I’m going to the restroom. You too play nice while I’m gone.”
“Ah, alone at last.” Brian threw his arm around Justin’s shoulders. “You know Sunshine, I don’t really appreciate being set up.”
“Um…yeah about that…” Justin began to stammer a reply.
“No need to explain. I’ll just take it out of your ass tonight.” Brian stated matter-of-factly, with a twinkle in his eyes.
Justin breathed a sigh of relief. Brian wasn’t really mad. And whatever ‘punishment’ that Brian would deal out, Justin was sure he’d enjoy as well. “So, how was lunch?”
“It didn’t kill me.”
Justin smiled. “And how was the company?”
“She didn’t kill me either.” Brian said with his tongue-in-cheek smirk.
“Good.”
Brian and Justin spent the next few moments in comfortable silence. Justin smiled as Alex approached the table. Right as she was about to slide into the booth, Alex froze, eyes wide. Justin quickly glanced at Brian, confused. Simultaneously, Brian and Justin looked towards the entrance of the diner, where Alex seemed to be staring. Standing at the counter, staring at the daughter she thought she’d never see again was a shocked Jennifer Taylor.
“Alexandra?” Jennifer tentatively asked.
Alex remained still, unable to form any coherent thoughts let alone move.
Brian and Justin looked at a trembling Jennifer and then back at a still frozen and pale Alex. They looked at each other, having identical thoughts.
‘Oh shit!’
End Chapter 7