Hey guys! Here's chapter seven. Enjoy. Sorry about the wait -- I've been kind of down lately. And I don't like writing when I'm really down ... it makes the story look forced. Anyway ... enjoy. Thanks to Esther (qaffanfictionprojects) for the bunny, and to Jess and Lynn for beta-ing.
Chapter Seven Over the next few days, Brian, Justin, and Gus took time to get to know each other. Gus and Jeff spent a lot of time with Alex, and Gus noticed that he was becoming quite attached to the little girl. Brian was slowly becoming attached to Gus as well, and was silently dreading the time when Gus left and went back to Toronto. Brian had put together a huge birthday bash for Gus' 18th birthday. The guest list included the "gang", and Gus couldn't have been happier. It gave him the chance to reconnect with more of the people he used to 'know' as a baby. And it also gave him lots of people to talk about his other mom with. Gus, Justin, Brian, Jeff, and Alex were sitting in a booth at the diner. Brian and Justin were on one side, and Jeff and Gus were on the other side, with Alex between them. Alex was eyeing the dessert menu. "Daddy, can I have some ice cream?" she asked with big puppy eyes. Brian laughed at the face she made. "Christ, she looks like you when you beg," Brian joked, tongue-in-cheek. Justin smacked him. "Sure, Al. What kind of ice cream do you want?" Justin asked. "I want vanilla with chocolate fudge!" Alex said. Justin smiled when Debbie showed up with a pad in one hand, pen in the other. "One vanilla ice cream with chocolate fudge, coming right up!" Deb smiled, writing it down. She turned to Gus and Jeff. "Anything for you boys?" she asked. Gus shook his head. "How about another spoon, and I'll just eat some of Alex's ice cream sundae," Jeff said. Deb smiled. "Another spoon. Got it," she turned to look at Brian and Justin. "Should I even ask?" "How are the lemon bars today, Deb?" Brian asked. Deb smiled. "They're great today. They're great everyday, Brian. I make them," she said, her hands on her waist. Brian laughed. "Oh. Right. Well, bring five," he said. Deb nodded, writing it down, then walking off to get Alex's ice cream. "So, Gus, have you thought about what you're going to do in August?" Justin asked, stirring his coffee. Gus shrugged. "No, not really. I wanted to talk to someone about possibly shadowing at Carnegie Mellon or something," he said. Brian nodded. "That's not a bad idea, sonnyboy. I'm sure they've got some summer classes going on or something," Brian said. Gus nodded. "I'll give them a call tomorrow. See what I can get done," Gus said. Just then, Debbie brought over a big bowl of ice cream with five spoons, just because, and the lemon bars. "Mmm! Ice cream!" Alex giggled. ----- Brian came into the kitchen and saw Gus on the phone. He smiled. "Okay, thanks so much," Gus said, and hung up. "Who was that?" Brian asked, pulling two bottles of water out of the fridge, handing Gus one. "Thanks," Gus said, accepting the bottle and taking a drink. "It was the Dean at Carnegie Mellon. He said that they'll hold onto that scholarship they gave me, and let me shadow a student there for a week. I'll go to their classes with them, and they'll give me a tour of the campus. Then I'll decide whether or not I really want to go there," Gus explained. Brian nodded. "Sounds good. What kinds of classes are they taking?" Brian asked, sitting down at the table. Gus joined him. "Well, the Dean asked me what I was interested in majoring in. I told him communications, so he's going to have me shadow a freshman communications major so that I can see if that's really what I want to do. Actually, since it's summer, I think they'll be in-between their freshman and sophomore year, to be technical," Gus said, sticking his own tongue in his own cheek, looking so much like his father. Brian raised a brow, shaking his head. "Christ, it's like looking in a fucking mirror," Brian mumbled. Gus laughed. "So, communications, huh?" Gus nodded. "Yep," he said. Brian nodded. Gus would be good with communications. "So when do you go?" "I start on Monday. I need to be there at 9:30am, her first class starts at 10," Gus said. Brian nodded. "Just don't let your good looks distract her from her classes," Brian said, getting up and ruffling Gus' hair, starting to walk out the door. "Hey, dad?" Gus called. Brian turned around. "Hmm?" "Why did Debbie say that stuff about being surprised that you're a married man?" Gus asked, curiosity in his voice. Brian rolled his lips into his mouth, walking back to the table and sitting down. "Well … um, before I met Justin, I was somewhat of a slut. Actually, even after I met him, I was a slut. He was there the night you were born, you know." "He was?" Gus asked, and Brian nodded. "Yeah. I picked him up on Liberty Avenue that night, I took him home with me as a trick, just to fuck him, but then I got the call from Melanie about you." "Why'd you bring him with you? I mean … why didn't you just tell him to get lost or something?" Brian couldn't help but smile. "Justin was 17," he informed Gus. Gus' mouth dropped open. "17? Dad! Ew!" Gus said, and Brian laughed. "His parents thought he was at a friend's, and he had nowhere to go, so I had to bring him with me. He named you." "He named me?" "Yeah, Melanie wanted to name you Abraham," Brian made a face. "Lindsay wanted Gus. So I asked Justin, and he picked Gus." "If he was just a trick to you, why'd you ask him?" Gus asked, a smirk on his face. "Because I didn't know it yet, but he wasn't just a trick," Brian answered. "He wouldn't leave me alone, he hounded me constantly for a year, and then asked me to go to his prom with him," Brian still got kind of uncomfortable talking about the prom. "But that's a whole nother story that I'll tell you some other time," he said. Gus noticed the look that crossed his father's eyes and nodded. "Okay," he said. "Justin eventually moved in with me, then moved out, then moved in," Brian smiled, "then moved out, and in, and out," he laughed. "We couldn't make up our minds … we were both stubborn. But eventually, I asked him to marry me when we had known each other for five years. It was after some asshole planted a bomb in Babylon, and it went off when Justin was there, and I was scared to death that something happened to him, and it was kind of an impulse thing. Justin knew that, and we called the wedding off, and he went to New York," Brian continued the story. "New York? Why the fuck did he move to New York?" Gus asked. Brian laughed. "Because I told him to. It was a chance for him to go somewhere with his art, and I didn't want to hold him back from that. He eventually realized that nothing was happening in New York, and came home. He didn't tell me that he was back for like two months, that little fucker. But he moved back into the loft. I was still sleeping around, but not as often." "So that's why they were so surprised when you settled down with Justin? Because you slept around all the time?" Gus asked, and Brian nodded. "Yeah. To be honest with you, sonnyboy, I was scared of what settling down meant. I was scared that it meant that I was getting old," he said. Gus snickered. "Dad, you are old," he said. Brian shook his head, a smile on his face. He got up and kissed Gus on the forehead. "I am not old," he said, smiling and walking out of the room. Gus smiled, watching Brian's back. "No … you're not old," he said to the empty room. ----- Later that night, Gus and Jeff were in Gus' bedroom. Jeff was writing something in a journal, and Gus was sitting there, thinking about something. "Hey, man, what's on your mind?" Jeff asked, glancing up from his journal. Gus shook his head. "Nothing," he lied. Jeff rolled his eyes, closing the journal and sitting up. "Okay, now that you got the lie off your chest, wanna tell me what's really bothering you?" Jeff asked. Gus smiled, Jeff could always see through him. "I'm just wondering why you're still here. And I don't mean that in a bad way, like … I don't want you to go. I'm just wondering why you want to still be here," Gus said. Jeff shrugged. "I like your family. And you're my best friend, of course I'd be here for you during something like this," Jeff said. Gus nodded. "I don't want you to feel that you have to stay." "I don't. I'm staying because I want to. We'll see how you feel about Carnegie, and move on from there." "After Carnegie, what happens if I want to stay?" "Then you stay. I'll take a plane back to Toronto," Jeff insisted. Gus bit his lip. "Gus, I'm your friend. I just want you to be happy. And if you're happy here in Pittsburgh with your dads and sister, then I'm happy for you," Jeff said. Gus smiled, hugging his friend. "Thanks, Jeff. You're such a great friend," he said. Jeff smiled. "We'll see what happens at Carnegie, okay? Don't worry about me. I'll leave when I have to," Jeff said. Gus nodded. ----- Monday morning, Gus got into his car and drove to Carnegie Mellon. When he got there, he pulled into the parking lot and got out of the car, following the directions the Dean gave him to the information desk. He smiled at the woman there. "Hi, my name is Gus Peterson-Marcus … I was supposed to shadow someone today, and Dean Andrews told me to let you know that, and that you'd know what to do," he said, flashing her his Kinney-charm smile. The woman nodded. "Right … Gus. You can just have a seat over there … your guide will be out here any minute," the woman said. Gus nodded, having a seat. Five minutes later, a girl came running up to Gus. "Are you Gus?" she asked. He nodded. "Yeah, I'm Gus," he said. She smiled, holding out her hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Katrina. But call me Kat," she smiled. Gus grabbed and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you," he said. She nodded. "So, you're supposed to come with me to my classes, huh?" she smiled when he nodded. "Yeah, I'm thinking about going to CMU next year, and since I live in Toronto, I never got the chance to shadow," Gus explained as they walked across the campus. "Toronto?" Kat whistled. "You're a long way from home, Gus," she smiled. He laughed, nodding. "My dad lives in Pittsburgh, so I'm not really that far from home. I'm thinking about moving out here to live with him and his partner," he told her. She nodded. "Well, that's cool. I've lived in Pittsburgh all my life. Doesn't change much," she smiled. He shrugged. "I like it here," he stated simply. She nodded. "Fair enough. No girlfriend back in Toronto that you're leaving behind?" she asked, smiling. He shook his head, smiling as well. "Nah … no girlfriend," he said. She turned a corner, taking another path, and he followed her. He noticed that they were approaching a big building. "Hmm … boyfriend in Toronto?" she asked. He laughed. "No … as gay as my dad is, you'd think it would have rubbed off on me or something, but it didn't," he smiled. "Just making sure," she said, opening the door to the building. He followed her inside and to her classroom. She went up to the professor and introduced him to Gus, explaining what he was doing there. The professor smiled and welcomed Gus to the class, and then Gus and Kat took their seats in the back of the class. Gus glanced at Kat and she glanced up and shot him a smile, and he felt his stomach drop. He glanced down at his desk and smiled. End Chapter Seven 10-03-05