Brian was almost out of the door when there was a knock.  He went and opened and stared at Michael. 

Michael laughed.  “Fucking hell.”

Brian arched a brow.

“I went…” he said and cleared his throat.  “I went to the loft and knocked for a long time waiting for you to come out.”

Brian crossed his arms.  He didn’t want to talk to the man.  He was still angry at the things that Michael had said about wanting Justin dead.

“Then I was going to leave and for some reason I knew you would be here,” Michael said.  “In his loft.”

Brian sighed.  “Michael, please…”

“I’m not here to fight,” Michael assured him.  “Can we talk?”

Brian thought about it for a few seconds before he nodded.  “Sure, come in.”

Michael stepped inside and looked around.  “What is this?”

“What?” Brian asked.

“Are you living here?” Michael asked as he recognized plenty of Brian’s stuff.

Brian licked his lips.  “Michael, you said you wanted to talk.”

“And we’re fucking talking, Brian!” Michael hissed.  “And I’m asking you if you fucking live here?”

“I do,” Brian answered.  There was no point on lying about it.

Michael nodded.  “How long?”

“Michael,” Brian said.  “I really don’t have time for this.”

“Were you going somewhere?” Michael asked.

“I’m going to the hospital,” Brian said.  “Justin doesn’t want to be there.  They are going to let him come home.  He’s going to get the help he needs here.”

Michael nodded slowly.  “Is he going to be okay?”

Brian nodded. “Yeah, with a lot of work.”

Michael bit his lower lip and frowned.  “I want to…”

“What?” Brian asked.

“I want to know how it happened,” Michael told him.

“Let’s not do this,” Brian said.

“No!” Michael hissed.  “How could you Brian?  God!  That fucking asshole pretended to be my friend and then he turns around and fucks you.”

“It wasn’t like that,” Brian explained.  “It was before you knew him.”

Michael stared at Brian like he was crazy.  He knew Justin for over a year now.  It couldn’t be possible that he and Brian had been fucking behind his back.  “You didn’t.”

Brian didn’t know what to do.

“When?” Michael asked with rage.  “Tell me when!”

“It was…that day we went to celebrate,” Brian told him.  “The night of King of Babylon.”

Michael remembered that day.  He had been so happy.  Now he was finding out that all that time Brian and Justin had been seeing each other and it was killing him.

Brian sighed.  “He’d just moved in and he had been going around introducing himself.  When he got to the loft…” Brian stopped. “It just happened.”

“You fucked him just like that?” Michael asked.

Brian nodded.  “I didn’t think it would mean anything.  He was supposed to be just a trick.”

“Then what the fuck happened?!” Michael asked screaming.  “It’s been over a year, Brian!”

“I couldn’t stop thinking about him,” Brian said.  He rubbed his face not sure what else he could say.  “I didn’t mean for it to happen, Mikey,” he said looking at his ex.

Michael shook his head as he started crying.  “Why would you do this to me?”

“I tried to end it,” Brian told him.  “I really did but…I couldn’t keep away from him.”

“So you lied to me!” Michael hissed.  “You were fucking him behind my back.”

“I didn’t want to hurt you,” Brian told him.

Michael laughed acidly.  “Right, thank god!  Wouldn’t want to see what could have happened if you had been aiming for that!”

Brian didn’t say anything.  He deserved it.

“So then after you broke up with me you just moved in with him,” Michael said.

Brian sighed.  

“Fuck you, Brian!” Michael said.

Brian crossed his arms. 

“And you…you come to me with all this bullshit about wanting to be my friend!” Michael yelled.  “How could you?”

“I did want to,” Brian said.  “I still do.  I just didn’t think that telling you that Justin was my partner just like that was going to be a good idea.  I thought that if we did things slowly you would accept us eventually.”

“Oh,” Michael said.  “That makes sense,” he said sarcastically.  “All those years and I couldn’t get the truth straight up.”

Brian looked down.  “God, fine.  I get it.  You hate me.  I fucked up big time and I’m sorry but I can’t do anything.  I can’t change things, Michael.”

Michael opened his mouth to tell Brian that he didn’t hate him but he couldn’t.  “I don’t know. I just…it’s so much.”

Brian didn’t say anything.  What could he say?

“I’m going to go,” Michael said then stopped.  He turned around and pouted.  “I didn’t mean what I said…about wanting him dead.  I was just so pissed.”

Brian bit his lower lip. 

Michael took a deep breath.  “I know he’s paralyzed.  Ted went to see him and he told me.  He can’t move any part of his body.”

The brunet couldn’t move. 

“Is he ever going to walk again?” Michael asked.

Brian shrugged.  “I don’t know.”

“Is this the life you want?” Michael asked.  “I think…I don’t know.  I don’t think you will be able to handle it.”

Brian got angry knowing what Michael was saying about him.  And for the first time he felt proud. He wasn’t like he used to be.  He wasn’t going to run away no matter how scared he was.  He didn’t know how he was supposed to deal with Justin’s condition and it terrified him but he knew he was going to do everything possible to help his husband.

“If you need anything,” Michael said.  “Call me.  I’m sure you will need someone around to take care of your needs.”

The brunet could hear the true meaning of that offer.  “I think there is something I should tell you,” Brian said.  

“What?” Michael asked.

“When…when I went to New York,” Brian said.  

“He went with you,” Michael said already imagining it.

“We didn’t really go to New York,” Brian related. “We ended…in Vermont and we…”

Michael opened his eyes big.  He couldn’t move or breathe.

“We got married,” Brian said.

Michael looked down at the floor.  The tears wouldn’t stop coming out now.  He turned around slowly and left Brian.  

Brian closed the door slowly.  “Fuck,” he gasped out.  

He put his forehead against the metal door and breathed easily.  He felt free and he knew he didn’t have to carry Justin and his secret any longer.  

***

When Brian arrived at the hospital room Justin was already sitting in his wheelchair.  The chair was reclined back and had a head rest.  It looked comfortable enough.  Brian could see the thing was state of the art.  Molly had told him that she would buy everything Justin needed because she had gone through it once before and knew exactly what to get.  

“Hey, Brian,” Evan said smiling.

Brian looked at them.  They two siblings were sitting down on Justin’s bed.

“We were waiting for you,” Molly said.

Justin smiled at him.  “You’re late, Brian.”

“Sorry,” he said.  “I had an unexpected visitor.”

Justin wondered who had it been but he could see by Brian’s reaction that it hadn’t been pleasant. 

“Purple?” Brian asked.

“Evan picked it out,” Justin muttered.

Brian smiled at that as he walked over to his husband.  He bent down and kissed him on the lips.  He was a bit scared watching Justin sitting there because not an inch of the blond’s body was moving.  Daphne had explained to him that the hit that Justin sustained caused his paralysis but that it was only temporarily.  That with a lot of therapy Justin could get to where he was before.

“We’re ready to go,” Molly said.

Brian nodded and he pushed the chair out of the room.  When they got to the entrance Molly handed him the keys to the van.  The brunet took them not sure what they were for.

“Your time to push,” Molly said to Evan.  “Carefully please.”

“I know,” Evan said before he started pushing Justin’s chair. 

Molly intertwined her arm with Brian’s.  They walked behind the two blond’s at a slower pace.  “Are you sure you want to do this? We can hire people to take care of Justin.”

“I’m going to be there for him, Molly,” Brian told her.

“What about your job?” Molly asked. 

“Cynthia and Ted are taking care of everything,” Brian assured her.  “If they need anything signed they would bring it to the loft and I can work from there.”

Molly sighed and stopped the brunet.  “This is not going to be easy, Brian.  It’s hard work.”

“He’s my husband and I want to do this,” Brian told her.

“It’s going to take at least nine to ten months before he can move again,” Molly informed him as her eyes watered.  “And there are going to be days that you’re just going to want to strangle him.”

Brian cleaned her tears away and hugged her.  “That already happens.”

Molly laughed and pulled back.  “If you need anything you call me I don’t care what time it is, Brian.  If there is anything you have doubts about you have to call me.”

“Okay, woman,” Brian told her. “Relax, please.”

Molly nodded and looked at the keys in Brian’s hand.  “Those are the van’s keys.  I drove it here.  It’s going to be your new car for a while.”

Brian nodded understanding.  

“It’s big and ugly,” Molly said laughing.  

Brian smiled at that.  “I don’t care.”

Molly took a deep breath and nodded.  “I can follow you in your car and then I’ll take a taxi to get home.”

Brian nodded.  “Do you know how to drive stick?”

Molly laughed.  “Yes, I do as a matter of fact.”

“Good,” Brian said reaching for his keys inside his pocket before giving them to her.

They reached the van where Evan and Justin were waiting.  Molly opened the door and showed Brian how to load Justin into the van.  He made sure he looked at everything she did.  Then she taught him how to lock the wheelchair and use the special seatbelt.  Brian nodded and if he had any questions he asked them.  Brian could tell Justin was really quiet but he didn’t ask anything until they were alone. 

Brian got in the driver’s seat and looked next to him.  Justin couldn’t turn his head to look at him and it was hard for him to communicate with his husband.  There were times when they would look at each other and nothing had to be said. 

“Brian?” Justin asked.  “Is everything okay?”

Brian cleared his throat and started the car.  “Of course, let’s go home.”

“Yeah,” Justin said barely audible.

***

“I’m going to prepare something,” Molly said once they were at the loft.

“You don’t have to Molly,” Justin told her.

“I want to,” Molly said.

“But you don’t have to,” Justin pointed out.

“I’m going to make you eat, Justin,” Molly informed him.  “Whether you like it or not.”

Brian smirked.  He wasn’t used to seeing the banter between the eldest brother and sister, but he could tell that Justin’s stubbornness was a family thing.  

“Whatever,” Justin said.  

Brian watched as Evan went to his bedroom.  He noticed that the boy wasn’t his usual self.  The brunet moved Justin towards the kitchen and placed him facing Molly.  So they could talk. 

“I’ll me right back,” Brian said as he squatted next to the blond.  “I’m going to talk to Evan.”

“Okay,” Justin muttered.

Brian got up and walked over to the boy’s room.  He knocked on the door and waited.

“Come in,” Evan called out.

Brian opened the door and walked inside.  “Hey, sport,” he said as he went and sat in the bed with the kid.  “What’s up?”

Evan shrugged.  

Brian frowned.  “You can tell me anything you know.”

Evan nodded slowly.

Brian sighed because he wasn’t getting anywhere.  “Do you want to watch a movie?”

“Not really,” Evan told him.

“Do you want to help me to get the things from the van?” Brian asked.

“Yeah,” Evan said enthusiastically.

Brian frowned at the sudden change and nodded.  The two of them got out of the room and went to the kitchen to tell Molly and Justin they were going to get everything from the van.

“Okay,” Brian said once they were outside.  “We’ll put everything in the elevator at once.”

Evan nodded. “I’ll help you,” he assured the brunet.

Brian opened the doors to the van and started pulling things out.  Evan held the door to the building open with one of the boxes that were in the van.  The brunet found so many things that would have never crossed his mind to get.  There were three other wheelchairs in the van.  They were folded but Brian could tell that one of them was to use in the bathroom.

“What is this for?” Brian asked putting the chair down.

“That one is for circulation and things like that,” Evan said.  “He gets in it and the chair moves and it’s almost like he’s about to get up.  It helps his muscles.  Molly used to sit him on it for at least an hour.  He used to hate it.  And that one is for when Justin recovers movement in his arms, that way he can push himself around in it.”

Brian nodded.  He kept pulling things out and found ramps and accessories that would make it easier for Justin to move once he started getting part of his upper body strength.  When they had everything they went up to the loft. 

“Food is almost done guys,” Molly announced.

Between Brian and Evan they found a place for everything.  Brian opened a few of the boxes trying to find where to place the items when he found one that made him stop.  “What is this?”

“Those are diapers,” Evan said.  

“I know that,” Brian told him.

“Then why do you ask?” the boy asked him.

Brian sighed and sat in the bed. 

“Molly used them for Justin at night,” Evan whispered.  

Brian nodded as he started to see the big picture.  He knew it was going to be harder than he anticipated.   He wondered if he was prepared for everything.  He didn’t want to fail the blond.

“Are you okay?” Evan asked.

Brian nodded and smiled.  “Of course.”

“I’m sorry,” Evan said looking down at the floor.  “I’m really sorry.”

“What are you talking about?” Brian asked.

Evan sighed and shrugged.

“Hey,” Brian said pulling the boy to him.  “Tell me.”

Evan started crying.  “It was my fault that Justin got shot,” he said really low.  “And I’m so sorry.”

Brian hugged the boy as his own tears made it out.  “Don’t say that,” he said when he found his voice.  “Please don’t say that.”

“It’s true,” Evan told him.  “It is.”

“No it’s not,” Brian said as he pushed the blond back.  “It’s not.”

“But what if I hadn’t insisted on getting the comic that Michael promised,” Evan explained.  “Then he would be okay.”

“Did you know this was going to happen?” Brian asked the boy.

Evan shook his head.

“Then it’s not your fault that you went there with Justin,” Brian told him.  “So stop blaming yourself for it.  Promise me okay?”

Evan bit his lower lip.

“Justin would be so sad if he knew that you thought that,” Brian said.  “You don’t want him to be sad.”

Evan shook his head. 

“Good,” Brian told him smiling.   He would have to talk with Molly about what Evan was thinking.  He knew that the boy would need someone to talk to.  They had been so involved with helping the older blond that they forgot that Evan had been present when Justin had been shot and was traumatizing enough for a kid his age.

“Guys!” Molly called.  “Dinner!”

“Is she a good cook?” Brian asked getting up.

Evan looked back and then leaned closer.  “Justin is better,” he whispered.

The two of them arrived at the kitchen laughing their hearts outs.

***

Brian heard the alarm and he opened his eyes slowly.  His arms stretched and he hit the snooze button.

“Brain,” Justin said.

Brian quickly sat up.  “Justin,” he said.  “Are you okay?”

“Can you put me in my chair?” Justin asked.

Brian nodded and quickly got out of bed.  He pulled the chair closer and hit the breaks.  Then slowly and very carefully he picked the blond up and placed him on the wheelchair.  The night before Brian tried his best for Justin to be as comfortable as possible in bed.  The special bed that Molly had ordered was supposed to get there that day.

“Do you need anything?” Brian asked.

“I need my pills,” Justin told him.  “I feel like my head is going to explode.”

Brian nodded and quickly went to get the pills and a glass of milk.  He came back quickly and put them in Justin’s mouth.  He was glad that Molly had gone over everything.  He put the straw in the blond’s mouth and Justin sucked on it. 

“You have to drink it all, Jus,” Brian said.  “You haven’t eaten anything.”

Justin muttered something before he finished the milk. 

Brian cleared his throat and put the glass on the night table.  “Your hair is growing,” Brian said running a hand over the blond’s head.  They had to shave the blond’s head to do the operation.  “You look kind of hot.”

“Yeah right,” Justin told him.

“I’m going to prepare us something to eat,” Brian told him.

Justin stared at Brian and then smile.  “I want to see this.”

Brian smiled at that and took off the breaks before he moved to the bathroom.  “Do you need to use the toilet?”

“I just need to pee,” Justin told him.

Brian nodded and reached for the plastic bottle.  Molly had given him a nice speech on how to take care of everything.  He pulled open the right tab on Justin’s diaper and grabbed the blond’s cock.  Justin peed into the bottle feeling very embarrassed about the whole thing.  He felt so horrible that Brian had to do all that for him.  The brunet put the tab back on and stood up. 

Brian moved to dispose of the urine and then cleaned the bottle.  The brunet relieved himself and then went and cleaned his hands.  He grabbed Justin’s toothbrush and washed the blond’s mouth.

“Did I miss any spots?” Brian asked as he put the cup in front of Justin’s mouth.  He helped the blond lean his head forward so he could spit.

“You got everything,” Justin assured him.

“Good,” Brian told him.  

The brunet washed his mouth and then they exited the bathroom.  Brian placed Justin close to him as he made breakfast.  The brunet made a fruit salad for the both of them along with some toast.  He went and placed it on the table before he grabbed some orange juice and a couple of glasses.  He made sure to grab a straw for Justin as well.  The blond was amused as he watched the brunet on the kitchen cutting the fruit.  He had even laughed a bit when Brian had started humming.

“Come on,” Brian said turning the wheelchair and walking to the table.  “You will love it.  I didn’t screw it up this time.”

“Eat first,” the blond said.  “I can wait.”

“How about if I take a bite and then you take a bite?” Brian asked.  “Say, oh love you’re a genius.”

Justin smiled widely.  “Yeah, whatever.”

Brian laughed and started feeding his husband.  

“I was thinking,” Justin said as Brian took a bite of his food.  “Maybe we should hire someone to take care of me.”

“No,” Brian said firmly.  

The older man grabbed Justin’s fork and stabbed a piece of strawberry then lifted it up so Justin could eat it.  Justin did and chewed slowly as he watched the brunet.  

“You have work,” Justin pointed out.

“I’m taking some time off,” Brian told him as he broke a piece of toast to give it to Justin. 

Justin took a bite and watched Brian eating from his own plate.  “What about…”

“Stop trying,” Brian said.  “Molly already did.”

“Mmm,” Justin said.

When they were done Brian put everything on the sink.  Then he took the blond back to the bathroom.  

“Your therapist is coming today,” Brian told him.

“Okay,” Justin said as Brian lifted him up and placed him on the other wheelchair.  “I need…I need to use the toilet.”

Brian nodded and backed the chair into the toilet.  He took the blond’s diaper off as gently as he could.  “I need to lower it down a bit.”

Justin waited until Brian was done.  “Can I have some privacy?”

Brian nodded and left.  When he was outside he called Cynthia to ask her how things were.

“Brian,” Cynthia said sounding a bit pissed.

“What is it?” Brian asked.

“You told me that you needed to take time off and I’m perfectly okay with that,” she told him.  “But you failed to mention that you were doing it to take care of your husband.  Husband, Brian!”

Brian rolled his eyes.

“When were you going to tell me?” she asked him.

“Tomorrow, but apparently you found out before the big surprise,” Brian said sarcastically sure that Ted was the one that told her.  He was sure that by now Michael had told everyone that would listen to him.

“Is he okay?” Cynthia asked.  “Ted told me what happened.  Is he going to…”

“He’s okay,” Brian said frowning.  He hated people getting into his private life even if it was Cynthia.  “Look, just keep me informed of everything.  Pretend to be me and keep everyone on their toes.”

Cynthia laughed.  “I will.”

“Thank you, Cynthia,” he told her.

“I have to meet him,” she told him.

“Later,” He replied.  “I have to go.”

“Okay, you take care,” she told him before she hung up.

Brian went to the bathroom and knocked on the door.  “Are you done?”

“No,” Justin shouted.

Brian bit his lower lip and walked to the kitchen.  He busied himself cleaning the dishes they used and then dried them up.  He went to their bedroom and grabbed a cigarette before he went to the living room.  When he was done he went back to check on Justin.

“Justin,” Brian said but there was no answer.  

The brunet was scared that something had happened.  Justin had his eyes open and he was currently glaring at Brian.

“Just flush the toilet,” Justin muttered.

Brian didn’t say anything.  He could tell Justin was angry.  He cleaned Justin and then stood up and pushed the chair towards the shower.  He already had set the ramp so it was easy for him to do so.  He took off his sweats and then pushed the chair all the way back to the wall.  He turned the knobs and adjusted the water.   They were silent as Brian washed Justin’s body from head to toe.  When Brian looked at Justin he realized that it was water running down the blond’s face.

“Justin,” Brian gasped out.  “What…did I hurt you?”

“No,” Justin assured him.  

“Why are you crying?” Brian asked and that only seemed to get things worse because Justin cried more.  “God, please.  What am I doing wrong?”

“I can’t look at you, Brian,” Justin said.  “I feel so ashamed that you have to do all this for me.”

Brian sighed.  “You don’t fucking have to be embarrass, Justin,” he told his husband.  “I don’t fucking care what I have to do for you.  I love you so much.  Things will get better.”

“I don’t want this,” Justin said.  “We really have to get someone to do this.”

“I told you that it’s not going to happen,” Brian told him.

“But Brian…” Justin protested.

“I bet that if it was me you would do the same for me,” Brian pointed out.  “Wouldn’t you?”

Justin kept quiet.  

“So that’s a no,” Brian told him.

“Of course is not,” Justin argued. “I would do anything for you,” he told him.  He just hated where Brian was going with the conversation.

“Then stop the fucking drama,” Brian instructed.  “I am not going anywhere.  I’m here because I want to be.”

Justin kept quiet and Brian finished taking care of him.  When he was done he took Justin outside and dried him up.  He got the man dressed and sat him on his regular chair.  When he finished getting dressed there was someone at the door. 

“Yeah,” Brian said pressing the button to the intercom.  

“This is Isaac Thompson,” the man replied.  “I’m the therapist.  Do I have the right apartment?”

Brian answered by pressing the button.  When he looked towards the blond he knew it was going to be a bad day.  Molly had warned him but he was okay with that.  He was aiming that the next day would get better.

***

Brian entered the loft with Emmett behind him.  

“If I tell you to go, you will,” Brian warned him.

Emmett nodded. 

“And sometimes his face gets paralyzed as well and he can’t talk so don’t stare at him, please,” Brian told him.  “It bothers him.  Trust me I have had enough fights about it.”

“Anything else?” Emmett asked.

“There are a million things else,” Brian said.  “But we’re working with everything slowly.  I’m trying to do my best.”

Emmett smiled at that.  “I’m sure you are, Brian.  You’re great.”

“Stop it,” Brian told him.

“Brian,” Isaac said smiling as he walked to where Brian and Emmett where standing in front of the door.  “I was about to call you.  I’m done for the day.”

Brian nodded. 

“Justin’s making progress,” the man told him.  “His movement in his left hand is improving.”

“What about his right one?” Brian asked.

Isaac frowned momentarily.  “We’re still working on that.”

The brunet nodded and opened the door for Isaac.  They talked about Justin for a few minutes before the therapist left and Brian closed the door.  He saw that Emmett had walked to the living room where Justin was.  He groaned and went over to his friend and his husband.  

“Stop it,” Justin told him laughing at bit.

“What is going on?” Brian asked.

“That’s between me and Justin,” Emmett pointed out as he straightened out.  

“Are you hungry?” Brian asked.  “I thought I could cook something.”

“Can we order take out?” Justin asked.  

“Are you saying my cooking sucks?” Brian asked.

“No,” Justin told him.  “I’m just tired of the freaking diet you have me on.”

Brian rolled his eyes.  He was only cooking healthy because it was good for Justin.  He was going to say no but stopped himself not wanting to screw up the good mood that Justin was in.  “Okay,” he said.

Justin smiled at the brunet.  Emmett had kept quiet watching the two men.  

“Do you need your pills or anything else?” Brian asked.

“I’m a bit thirsty,” Justin told him

“I’ll get you some juice,” Emmett said quickly.

Brian squatted in front of Justin.  “Is it okay that he’s here? He insisted on seeing you.”

Justin told him it was fine.  Brian nodded and kissed Justin on the lips.  

“How was your session?” Brian asked as he stood up.

“It was okay,” Justin assured him.  “Look at my fingers.”

Brian looked down and Justin was moving his index and thumb.  The brunet smiled and kissed Justin again.  

“I could move all of them before,” Justin assured him.  “I’m just a bit tired now and it’s not as easy.”

“That’s okay,” Brian said happy.  He knew that Justin was working as hard as he could.

“Here we go,” Emmett said when he came back with a glass of juice.

“I need a straw,” Justin told him.

“Oh,” Emmett said.  “I didn’t know.”

“I’ll get it,” Brian told him grabbing the glass that Emmett had.

Emmett pushed the wheelchair next to the sofa and sat down next to the blond.  He wasn’t sure what to say to the blond.  It wasn’t like he could ask what the blond had been up to.

“Here,” Brian said helping Justin drink.

“Let me,” Emmett said.  “Go order the pizza.  I’m hungry.”

Justin smiled at how Emmett handled Brian.  

“That has too much salt,” Brian protested.  “And Justin shouldn’t…”

“Brian, please,” Justin told him.  “Just this once.”

“Do what your husband says,” Emmett told him.  “He knows best.”

“Whatever,” Brian said before he went to make the call.

Emmett and Justin looked at each and smiled.

“How are things?” Emmett asked.

“They could be worst,” Justin told him as he opened his mouth and drank from the juice.

“I heard that you are making progress,” Emmett said.  “That’s so great.”

Justin stopped drinking.  “Yeah, it is.”

“Brian is improving as well,” Emmett pointed out as he helped the blond drink his beverage.

Justin pushed the straw out of his mouth with his tongue yet again and arched a brow.  “What do you mean?”

Emmett looked to where Brian was talking.  “Well, he’s looking much better,” he whispered.  “He was a total mess.”

Justin had to agree that it was true.  He smiled slowly.  

“Do you want more?” Emmett asked.

“No,” Justin replied.

Emmett put the glass on the table placed behind the sofa.  He looked at the vase that was filled with a bunch of sunflowers.  “My god, that’s beautiful,” he said talking about the flowers.  He hadn’t noticed them before.

“What is?” Justin asked not being able to see what Emmett was looking at.

“The flowers,” Emmett answered and touched one of them.  “They’re not real.”

Justin smiled at that.  “I’m allergic to a lot of things.  Brian bought them for me yesterday.  I don’t know somehow we ended up talking about what flowers I liked and I really didn’t have a favorite picked out.”

Emmett turned to look at the blond once again.   He could hear the happiness in the blond’s voice.

“Then Brian bought me those and told me that he wanted his Sunshine to have little rays of sunshine,” Justin told the man next to him.

“That is so fucking romantic,” Emmett told him.  “So great.”

“It is,” Justin agreed.

“Okay,” Brian said coming to them.  “They will be here in about forty minutes.”

“How are things, Em?” Justin asked.

“Well,” Emmett said.  “I got a new place.”

“You did?” Justin asked smiling.  

“Yeah,” Emmett said slowly as he looked up at the brunet.

Brain went and sat across from them.  

“Where are you living now?” Justin asked. 

“It’s about two blocks from here,” Emmett told him.  “It’s really nice.  It’s big and it makes me look like I have tons of money even when I don’t,” the man said and laughed.  “Its rent controlled so it’s perfect for me.”

“Why did you move?” Justin asked.

Emmett sighed.   “It was time.”

Justin knew something was going on.  He wasn’t stupid.  “What’s going on?”

Emmett looked at Brian.

“Justin, I don’t want you to get upset,” Brian told him.

Justin’s heart was pounding.  “What is it?”

“Michael realized that you and I had something,” Brian explained as he got up and came closer.  “We talked and I told him everything.”

“Everything?” Justin asked in a whisper.

Brian nodded.  “He made a big scene at Debbie’s house before our talk so everyone knows now.  He…he knew that Emmett had known about us.”

“God,” Justin said.  “I’m so sorry, Emmett.”

“It’s not your fault, honey,” Emmett assured him.  

“Yes, it is,” Justin disagreed. 

“Justin,” Brian warned.  “Stop the drama.  Remember we talked about this?”

“This is something totally different,” Justin pointed out.  

“Whatever,” Brian said as he leaned towards the blond.  “We’re in this together no matter what happens.  You told me that once.”

Justin rolled his eyes.  He remember he had said those words to the brunet two seconds after he had said ‘I do’ in Vermont.  

Brian caressed Justin face and then kissed him.  His tongue came out to lick the blond’s lips before he pulled away.  He looked at Emmett who was watching them with a big smile.  “Sorry,” he said looking at Emmett.

“Hey,” Emmett said smiling.  “It’s fine by me.  Although it is getting a bit hot in here or is it just me?”

Justin giggled.  “Oh please,” he said.

“Okay then,” Emmett said.  “Let’s think about positive things.  What do you say if we watch a movie?”

“Okay,” Justin accepted.  Oddly enough he still was in a good mood. 

Brian turned the TV on and found a movie that was starting.  Then he pushed Emmett so he could sit next to this blond.  He grabbed Justin’s hand and they watched the movie.  Emmett couldn’t stop smiling as he watched the couple.  He knew that they were going to be okay no matter what.  They ended up talking more than watching the movie.  When the food came Brian went and pay for it and Emmett helped the brunet carrying everything to the living room.  

The brunet and Justin would eat from the same slice that Brian had.  Brian fed the blond until Justin said he was full.  When they were done eating Emmett cleaned everything even thought the brunet insisted he didn’t’ have to.  Brian looked at Justin’s hand in his and was grateful for how things were molding up.  For the last three weeks Justin had been in a piss off mood.  He went to bed each night trying to think of what he could do to make things better for Justin.

It was even harder now because they weren’t even sleeping in the same bed.  Justin’s new bed was placed on Evan’s room.  And sometimes Brian would sneak up to the room and sleep on the boy’s bed even if he was too big for it.  Now seeing Justin smiling was making up for all of that and it was giving him strength to keep fighting for them.