Brian held Justin forward and sighed.  “I can do this.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Justin told him.  “I can clean my own ass!”

Brian rolled his eyes.  “Are you done?”

“Shut the fuck up,” Justin hissed. 

The brunet bit the inside of his cheek to not say anything to the blond.  

“I’m done now,” Justin told him after a few more seconds.

Brian help Justin leaned back on his chair and stood up.  “Are you happy now?”

“Do you know how good it feels to clean your own fucking ass?!” Justin asked very loudly.

Brian rolled his lips inside his mouth.  He pulled the chair forward and then turned it sideways.  Justin’s arm shot up to the side and flushed the toilet.  

“There,” Justin said happily with a satisfied smile.

Brian smiled at his husband.  “You must be feeling pretty proud of yourself.”

“Hell yeah,” Justin told him.

“Time for a shower,” he said as he pushed the chair.  

“Give me the soap,” the blond told him once they were inside the shower stall.

The older man rolled his eyes.  Every morning since the blond got back movement in his left arm, it was the same thing.  Justin didn’t want his help to do many things.  He was proud of that and scared and happy and mad all at the same time.  He was about to turn the knobs when Justin pulled his arm away. 

“I can do that!” Justin informed him.

“Fuck off, Justin!” Brian yelled at the blond.

Justin arched a brow and gripped the bar of soap tightly.  “What the fuck is your problem?”

“What the fuck is yours?” Brian asked angry.

The blond bit his lower lip.  He leaned his head forward and Brian almost had a heart attack.

“Don’t fucking do that!” Brian yelled like a mad man.  “Are you trying to fucking hurt yourself?”

Justin laid his head back on the head rest.  He started crying then and suddenly threw the bar of soap at the brunet.

“Fuck!” Brian hissed as the thing hit him on the forehead.  “You motherfucker!”

“Get the fuck out!” Justin yelled.

Brian storm out of the shower stall and went to their bedroom.  He started pacing back and forth like a caged animal.  He didn’t have a clue as to what was going on.  He sighed and stopped himself while taking deep breaths and letting them out slowly.  He walked back to the bathroom and heard Justin grunting.  He walked closer and saw the blond fighting to open the knobs.  He didn’t move from the spot until the blond managed to do the task.

“See,” Justin told him.  “I can do it.”

“Fine,” the brunet said.  “Go pick the soap or better yet pick the shampoo and wash your hair.  I want to see you do that.  And don’t forget to wash your back and your legs!”

Justin knew that he wasn’t going to be able to do all that, not even a single thing of what Brian had said.  He stared at Brian for a few seconds before he started crying again.

Brian closed his eyes and sighed.  He stepped inside and kneeled in front of the blond.  He picked the soap and put it in the blond’s hand. “Justin, I know you can do things.  I know that but you can’t do everything.  I’m tired of you yelling at me because I’m trying to help you.”

Justin only seemed to cry harder.  “I just want you to stop treating me like a baby, Brian.  I can do things for myself.”

“I know that,” the brunet told him.  “But not everything and the more you force yourself the more tired you will get.  And you’re risking hurting yourself as well.  The last thing I want you is to set yourself back.”

“You don’t understand,” Justin told him.

“I do,” Brian disagreed with his husband.  “I know you want to do your own things without my help.  I know it must feel fantastic to be able to feed yourself and wash yourself and clean your own fucking ass, as you nicely put it.”

“Yeah,” the blond muttered.

“But you still need help,” Brian said.  “And I know you can do the little things but I really don’t mind doing them for you.  And if you want to do them maybe you can ask nicely.  I know that by now you must want to jump from every spot in the loft and run as fast as you can while shouting to anyone that wants to hear it that you made it, but we have to take it easy.”

Justin’s crying turned into loud sobs.  He knew Brian was right and to top it all he had been treating Brian so bad without realizing it.

“You will get there, baby,” Brian whispered as he leaned closer.  “We will,” he said and buried his face on the crook of the blond’s neck.

Justin lifted his arm and started patting the back of Brian’s head.  “I’m sorry,” he said very gently.

“I’m sorry too,” Brian told him.  

“I love you, Brian,” Justin told him.

“I love you too, baby boy,” Brian told him and pulled back but stayed kneeling with the water hitting his back.  

“Brian,” Justin told him.

“What?” Brian asked caressing Justin’s chest.

“Could you wash me?” the blond asked pushing the soap into Brian’s hand.

“Its okay,” Brian assured him.  “I won’t fight you about it.”

The blond bit his lower lip.  “I’m…my arm is sore, Brian,” he confessed.  He really had over worked himself trying to turn the knobs.

Brian sighed.  

“Don’t say I told you so, please,” Justin whispered.

The older man leaned forward and kissed Justin.  He pushed his tongue inside the warn cavern and his body vibrated when the blond’s appendage touched his.  He pulled back and rubbed his nose against the blond. “I won’t,” he said softly.

***

“Can you pass me my shirt?” Justin asked once the brunet had gotten him into his jeans and placed him on the chair.

Brian arched a brow as he picked the green shirt up.  “You said your arm was sore.”

“But now is rested,” Justin told him.  “Please, Brian.  Let me try.”

“Okay,” Brian said and turned back when he heard a knock on the door.  He gave Justin the shirt and went to answer it.

“Hi,” Ben said.

Brian arched a brow.  “How did you got inside?”

“Someone was coming out,” Ben explained.  “Uh, I should have called first,” the blond told the brunet as he rubbed the back of his neck.  

“That’s okay,” Brian said stepping to the side.  “Come on in. Justin is in the bedroom.”

The brunet closed the door and then walked back to where he’d left Justin.  Ben followed him and frowned when he came to see that Justin had his head stuck on the shirt.  He looked at Brian that was standing in front of the dresser checking his hair.  

“Uh, Brian,” Ben said.

Brian turned around and looked at Ben and then at Justin.  “Yeah, I know.”

Ben watched as Justin managed to get his head through and then he slipped his left hand inside as well.  Justin started pushing the shirt as far down as he could.  He grabbed his right wrist and put it on his chest then slipped his hand down the neck of the shirt and grabbed his hand to pull it up but couldn’t.  He pulled his hand away and slipped it this time through the right sleeve pulled his hand and manage to get it out.  Then he tried to pull his arm through it but couldn’t.  He sighed and knew he had to ask for help.

Brian didn’t know if he wanted to laugh or scream some more at the blond.  He had been watching his husband through the mirror.  

“Brian,” Justin said.

“Yes dear,” Brian answered in a falsetto voice.

Justin glared at the back of Brian’s head.  “I need help now.”

Brian turned around and watched as Justin’s right hand dangled from the sleeve.  He shook his head and finished pulling the arm all the way before lower the shirt down.  

“Was that so bad?” Brian asked.

“I got more than half of it on,” Justin pointed out.  He turned to look at his cousin and smiled.  “Hey, Ben.”

“You’re nuts,” Ben said to his little cousin.  “Why would you go through all that?  You were fighting over five minutes.  The shirt almost won.”

Justin laughed.  “I know but I wanted to try.”

Brian left the room and came back with one of the other chairs. 

“Brian,” Justin complained.  “Not now.  We have guests.”

“He’s family,” Brian said and moved Justin to the other chair.  

Then he pushed it towards the living room.  Ben followed them out amused by the whole thing.  He knew that Justin was one of the most stubborn people he knew.  He sat down on the sofa and watched as Brian hit a button on the chair and Justin’s body started lifting up as if he was going to get up.

“He’s going to fall,” Ben said alarmed.

“I tied him up,” Brian said.  “He’s going to be okay.”

“It’s not, Ben,” Justin said.  “Get me out. He likes to torture me.”

Brian rolled his eyes and sat down next to Ben while Justin was right in front of them.  

“Is this good for him?” Ben asked.

“Yes,” Brian said. “What brings you around?”

“I wanted to see Justin,” Ben said.  

Brian nodded.

“Ta da!” Justin said.  “You’re looking at me.  Now what?”

“He can be such a rude little shit sometimes,” Brian said to Ben with a grin in place.

“I learn it from you,” Justin said.  “He’s a bad influence, Benny.”

“Don’t call me that!” Ben hissed.

Brian laughed as Justin smirked.

“Do you know what we used to call Justin?” Ben asked turning to look at the brunet.

“Don’t you dare!” Justin hissed.  “I’ll kill you!”

“Dumpling,” Ben said smiling.

Brain laughed even harder throwing his head back.

“Hey!” Ben yelled when the blond threw a small rock at him that landed on his chest.  “What the fuck Justin?” he asked as picked the smooth rock.

Brian laughter started dying as he picked the rock up from Ben’s hand.  “Evan is the supplier,” Brian said.  “He shoves anything he can get in his pockets so he can throw it at me later.”

“I have to defend myself,” Justin pointed out.  “I didn’t hit you that hard.”

Brian smirked as he got up to throw the stone away.

“Did you talk with Ronny?” Justin asked suddenly.

Ben nodded slowly.  He pouted and then shrugged.  “He was very pissed.  He left…I think he went to Cali, but I’m not sure.  I know he doesn’t want to talk to me.  He says I’m siding with the enemy.”

Justin sighed. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“He needs to clear his head,” Ben told him.  “He’ll be okay.”

“Yeah,” Justin whispered.

“Do you want anything to drink, Ben?” Brian asked.

“Can we go out?” Justin asked.

Brian thought about it for a second not sure where he was going to take Justin.  He shrugged.  “Where do you want to go?”

“I don’t know,” Justin said.  “Anywhere, Brian.  I’m tired of being cooped up in here.”

Ben licked his lips.  “We can go to the park and have a walk…or whatever.”

“Yes,” Justin almost screamed.  “I want that.”

Brian sighed.  “You would want to go to a damn bar and see women strip if it got you out of here.”

“Yuck,” Ben said frowning.

Justin laughed as he looked at his cousin. “He’s right you know.”

Ben and Brian laughed at that while Justin smiled widely.  

“Come on,” Justin said.  “Let’s go.”

“Okay,” Brian said.  “But when you finish your hour there.”

Justin pouted a bit.  “Can we get ice cream?”

“Sure,” Brian told him.  “Ben?”

“A glass of water will be fine,” Ben assured him. 

Brain nodded and went to get it. 

Justin laughed.  “Stop that, Benny.”

Ben turned to look at Justin.  “What?”

“You’re staring at my husband’s ass,” Justin pointed out.  “He’s mine.”

Ben sighed.  “I wasn’t.”

“Right,” Justin said.  “I might be crippled but not stupid.”

Ben groaned.  “So, he has a great ass.”

“That’s not all he has great,” Justin pointed out with a wicked smile.  “He has a big cock too.”

“Justin,” Ben growled.  “Shut the fuck up.  I don’t want to know.”

Justin smirked.  “Envy me,” he said.

Ben smiled as he looked at his cousin.  He knew that Justin was tied up to a chair and that his life had turned into a living hell in the blink of an eye.  No one in their right mind would want to go through what Justin was experiencing and yet there he was…envying him.

“Here is the water,” Brian said giving Ben the glass.  Then he gave Justin the glass of juice he’d brought the blond.  “Drink it all.”

Justin grabbed it and started drinking.  

“Thanks,” Ben said and took a sip of the water as his eyes landed on Brian’s crotch.

Justin pushed the straw out of his mouth and laughed his heart out. 

***

“You have a bit here,” Brian said as he stuck his tongue out and licked the ice cream off then moved on to kiss the blond.

Ben smiled at them as he ate his own ice cream.  He looked around and frowned at some of the people that started walking slower to gawk at Justin.  He wished he could tell them all to fuck off.

Brian pulled back when his cell phone started ringing.  “Yes,” he answered.  “What?  Calm down.  What? I’m on my way.”

“What happened?” Justin asked alarmed.

“Gus is in the hospital,” Brian told him as he got up and threw his ice cream in the trash.  “We have to go.”

“Why don’t you go?” Justin asked.  “Come on. It will be faster.”

“Justin,” Brian started.

“I’ll stay with him,” Ben assured him.

Brian sighed.  “Umm…”

“Go, Brian,” Justin shouted.  “I’ll be okay.”

Brian sighed not sure what to do.

Justin knew it would be easier for Brian to reach Gus.  He knew that the boy needed his father and he didn’t mind it on the least.  “Just go, damn it!”

Brian pulled out the keys and gave them to Ben.  “I’ll take a taxi,” he said and bent down to kiss the blond before he ran out of there like a mad man.

“Finish your ice cream and we’ll go,” Ben said.

“No,” Justin said sadly.

“You’re mad that he left you?” Ben asked.

Justin smiled.  “No, way,” he said.  “I’m just sad that I can’t be there.”

“What do you mean?” Ben asked moving on the bench so he was right in front of the blond.

“They’re really a tight group,” Justin said.  “I know they will be there waiting to see if Gus is okay.  I don’t want to face them, at least not yet.”

“I don’t follow,” Ben told him. 

Justin lifted his hand towards his cousin.  Ben grabbed the ice cream cone.  

“You don’t want it?” Ben asked.

“No,” the blond replied.

Ben threw the ice creams away.  “Can you tell me what’s going on?”

Justin swallowed hard and sighed.  “When Brian and I met he was getting back with his boyfriend.”

Ben arched a brow.  He had heard a few things about that.  As far as they had told him Justin met Brian and the brunet had left his previous partner for his cousin.  But he didn’t know all the details.

“At the time I didn’t know it,” Justin explained.  “I was saying hi to my neighbors and letting them know I just moved in.”

Ben kept quiet and listened.

“When he opened the door I thought I had died and gone to heaven,” Justin said smiling as he remembered that day.  “He had pretty much the same expression as mine.”

The older man smiled at the blond. 

“He invited me in and the next thing I knew we were fucking our brains out,” Justin said.

“Then he told you about his boyfriend?” Ben asked.

“No,” Justin said.  “I left and that was it.  I mean, it’s not like I hadn’t had a one time thing before.  I never thought for the life of me that it was going to turn into so much more.”

“Did he come looking for you?” Ben asked.

“No,” Justin said.  “I took Evan to a comic convention and he was there with his boyfriend.”

“Brian is into comics?” Ben asked frowning.

“No way,” Justin said laughing.  

“The ex,” Ben whispered.

“Yeah,” Justin said.  “I was so…disappointed but then again he never promised me anything.  It was something that happened.”

Ben nodded.  “Then what happened?  Can you get to it I’m dying to know.”

Justin smiled.  “He came to see me at my loft.  At first I thought he was there to tell me not to say anything to Michael, as if.”

Ben smirked.

“Anyway, we fucked again and after that we couldn’t keep our hands off of each other,” Justin told him.  “We had this fucked up relationship behind everyone back and then…”

“What?” Ben asked.

Justin sighed.  “We broke it off deciding that it was the best thing but…well, that didn’t work out so well.”

“Shit,” Ben said.  He would have never guessed Justin’s love story would go anything like this.

“So then Brian got back with me and broke up with him,” Justin said. “But he couldn’t tell him why.”

“Of course not,” Ben said.

“We thought that if we let time go by that it would be okay,” Justin said.  “That if he and I happen to hook up it wouldn’t matter.”

“But it wasn’t like that?” Ben asked.

“Well,” Justin said.  “At first we kept away from everyone and…his ex…”

“What?” Ben asked frowning not believing there was more to the story.

“He tried to kill himself,” Justin whispered.

“Shit!” Ben hissed.  “Fuck.”

“Yeah,” Justin muttered.  He took a deep breath and continued.  “I thought Brian was going to go back with him but he didn’t.”

“He stuck with you,” Ben said smiling.

“I was the happiest miserable man alive,” Justin told him.

Ben frowned.  “What?”

“I felt guilty for what had happened,” Justin related.  “And happy that Brian had picked me.”

Ben smiled at his cousin.  He knew that the blond loved Brian to no end. 

“That’s when we thought that time would solve our problems,” Justin said.  “I think that maybe…if I hadn’t gotten shot it might have worked.”

“How do you figure?” Ben asked.

“Well,” Justin said.  “Brian started showing his interest on me clearly so everyone could see it.  And his ex did get pissed off a few times but…I don’t know.”

Ben sighed. “Jesus, that’s some story to tell the grandchildren,” Ben commented.

“Like hell,” Justin said.  “Can we go?”

Ben nodded and got up.  He started pushing the wheelchair towards where the van was parked.  He asked the blond a few times if he was sure about going home instead of the hospital but the blond wasn’t budging.  So he took the blond home and stayed with him.  When they got home Ben ordered some food and then watched TV with the blond.  

At night when Justin fell asleep he got him into bed and went back to the living room.  He decided that it was best to stay and wait for Brain.  He knew he couldn’t leave Justin alone.  

***

Brian sighed as he opened the door to the loft and stepped inside.  He closed the door and walked to the living room.  The TV was on and Ben was snoring on the sofa.  He sighed and went to his bedroom where he found Justin sleeping as well.  He picked the blond up and carried him to Evan’s room and placed him on his bed.  Slowly he undressed Justin and grabbed one of the diapers they kept there.

“Mmm,” Justin grunted. “Brian?”

“It’s me,” the brunet assured him.  

“What are you doing?” Justin asked.

“Getting you ready to sleep,” Brian told him.

“Mmm,” Justin said.  “Okay,” he whispered.

When the brunet was finished he started stripping as well.  

“How is Gus?” Justin asked.

“He fell down as he was going down the stairs,” Brian related as he got on Evan’s bed and then moved as close as he could to Justin.  “Lindsay says that he was probably running down.  She told me that she has told him a hundred times not to run when he’s going down.”

“You know kids,” Justin said as he found Brian’s hand and interlaced fingers with him.  “Is he going to be okay?”

“Yeah,” Brian replied. “He broke his leg.”

“Shit,” Justin said.  “Our poor little guy.”

Brian smiled at that.  He liked hearing Justin called Gus theirs.  “I stayed with him until he fell asleep.  He wouldn’t stop talking.”

Justin giggled a bit.  

“But then again I have experience with little boys that don’t want to shut up,” Brian told him.

“Oh shut up,” Justin said smiling.  He yawned and pulled Brian’s hand closer towards him.  “So, um, who was there?”

Brian sighed.  “Melanie, Lindsay, Emmett, Debbie and Michael,” Brian said.  “And Ted but he left before I had arrived.”

“Did they say anything?” Justin asked as he pushed himself to stay awake.

“No one was talking to me except Lindsay and Emmett,” Brian told him.  “Melanie kept looking weird at me.”

“She’s always fighting with you,” Justin said and then yawned again.

“It wasn’t that kind of look,” Brian informed him.  “I think she’s okay with me being with you.”

“Melanie?” Justin asked and started laughing.  “Hell is turning cold.”

“No kidding,” Brian muttered.

“What else happened?” Justin asked.  “Did Michael talk to you?”

Brian pulled his hand away.  The brunet lifted up and moved so he could kiss the blond.  “Your mouth feels so good,” he whispered when he pulled back.

“Don’t,” Justin said pushing Brian way.  “Tell me.”

Brian sighed and dropped on his back.  He looked at the ceiling and wondered if Justin would fall asleep if he ignored him.

“Tell me,” Justin said again.

“He tried…when I was leaving he stopped me and then,” Brian said but stopped.  

“Just fucking tell me, Brian,” Justin said.

“He pushed me against the wall and kissed me,” Brian said.

Justin had maintained his eyes closed all that time until that point.  He started blinking a few times not sure what to say.

“I pushed him away and we started arguing,” Brian told him.  “Then…I punched him.”

“Just like that?” Justin asked.  “What did he say?”

“Nothing,” the brunet told him.

“Tell me what he said, Brain!” Justin yelled.

“Shut up, you’re going to wake Ben up,” Brian told him.

“Then tell me,” Justin hissed.

“He said…I don’t want to talk about this,” Brian muttered.

“Did he talk shit about me?” Justin asked getting angry that the brunet wouldn’t tell him.  “Did he call me a cripple? What Brian?”

“He said he really didn’t mean it when he said he was sorry about wishing you were dead,” Brian whispered so lowly that Justin almost missed.

Justin rolled his lips inside his mouth. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.  “Can you call him and tell him how you love to take my big cock up your ass?”

Brian started laughing his ass off. “God, Justin!”

Justin sighed.  “That fucking asshole!  When the fuck did that conversation took place?  And why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want to upset you,” Brian answered.  “I’m sorry.”

“Promise me something, Brian,” Justin said.

“What?” Brian asked.

“That you would never keep secrets from me,” Justin said.  “No matter how much you think it would hurt me.”

Brian stayed silent.

“I’m not a baby, Brian,” Justin told him.  “I would never keep secrets from you.”

Brian pushed his tongue into his cheek.  His hand started caressing Justin’s chest. “Fine, I promise.”

Justin closed his eyes again and sighed.  

“I love you,” Brian whispered really close to Justin’s ear.

Justin smiled and finally let sleep claim him.

***

“I can’t believe that fucking asshole did that to you,” Debbie said.

Michael shrugged.

“You should have told us before,” Ted said.

Emmett had been eating on the booth with Ted when Michael sat in front of them.  He had been surprised to see the shiner and even more shocked when Michael told them that it had been Brian.  Then Debbie had come and shouted wanting to know what had happened.

“Did you say something to him?” Emmett asked.

“Are you going to defend him?” Michael asked annoyed.  “And you wonder why we couldn’t live together anymore.”

Emmett sighed.  He had never questioned Michael about his reason for telling him to move out, there wasn’t anything to question.  He had just agreed and left the apartment as fast as he could.

“I’m going to give him a piece of my mind,” Debbie said.

“Don’t bother ma,” Michael said.  “It’s okay.”

Emmett looked at Michael and knew that there was something that the man in front of him didn’t want them to find out.  “I have to talk to him too,” Emmett said.  “He can’t go around punching people like that.”

“You leave it alone,” Michael hissed.  “You’ve done enough already.”

Emmett shrugged and knew his friend or whatever Michael was now was hiding something.

“I have to go,” Ted said getting up.  “I have so much work to do.”

Michael looked up at him. “Brian still hasn’t gone to work?  What the hell is he thinking?”

“He has to take care of Justin,” Emmett pointed out. 

Michael glared at Emmett.  “I have to go too,” Michael said getting up angry.

Debbie sighed as she watched her son go with Ted.  She sat down in front of Emmett and stared at him.

“Say whatever you need to say,” Emmett told her.

“I don’t want you and Michael fighting,” Debbie said.  “You’ve been friends for quite some time.”

“Do you believe him?” Emmett asked.  “You think he didn’t say anything to Brian?”

Debbie scratched one of her wrist as she looked at the table. “I don’t know Emmett.”

“I think he did something to get that black eye,” Emmett said.  “And it must have been something really horrible to make Brian lose it like that.  You know Brian is not the kind of person that goes around hitting people.”

“I know,” Debbie said and cleared her throat.  “I just don’t know what to do anymore.”

Emmett arched a brow.

“I knew it, you know,” Debbie said.  “The way Brian and Justin looked at each other.  But…I wanted to believe that it was nothing.  I wanted to believe that Brian and Michael were really meant for each other.”

Emmett sighed understanding Debbie’s position.  She was Michael’s mother after all.

“I know I was wrong,” Emmett said.  “And then again I was not, Debbie,” he told her.  “I wanted Michael to know but I couldn’t betray Brian like that.  He was my friend too.”

“They should have come clean,” Debbie said.

“They were so scared,” Emmett told her.  “They thought everyone was going to turn on them and also Brian didn’t even know how he was going to break up with Michael…and look at what happened once he did.”

Debbie rubbed her hands together.  “I know,” she said.  “But still…I don’t know.”

“Please, Deb,” Emmett told her.  “Don’t give Brian a piece of your mind about this whole mess.  They are grown ups and they have to solve their problems by themselves.  He has plenty on his plate to worry about.”

Debbie frowned not liking it.  She was angry with Brian for hurting her baby but she knew that the best she could do was keep out of it.  She nodded as she got up and went back to work.

Emmett sighed and made up his mind to find out what Michael had said to Brian to get the man so angry that he had to use violence.