Woo, okay, that took a little longer than I had hoped. This story should be coming to a close here soon, but not too soon :P. Thanks to Sheila for the Beta *Hugs* *licks* *violates* ;)

Okay, enjoy!

Justin sighed as he plopped down on the couch in Ted’s apartment. His cousin had told him over and over not to stress about getting an apartment, that he was welcome for as long he liked but Justin was yearning for some privacy. He was sure Ted was starting to feel the same. Justin yawned and lay down on the cream colored couch and closed his eyes. Visions of Brian popped into his head and he smirked. His smirk turned into a frown when he remembered that the older man wouldn’t be home for another couple of hours…

The blonde rolled onto his back and sighed again, more heavily this time as thoughts of Brian bombarded him. He knew after Ethan, Chris and Cody he swore to himself that he wouldn’t even think of a serious relationship again… and what he had with Brian wasn’t serious… was it? He didn’t love the man, did he? Justin groaned and pulled a throw pillow over his head. He didn’t want things with Brian to get serious. He knew as soon as they did it would all go to hell. Justin knew he loved being around the man. He was strong, confident, self assured and hot. Oh God was he hot, beautiful even. No boyfriend or trick in Justin’s past had ever even come close to Brian. And yet, he was still scared out of his mind.

He kept hearing Ben’s voice in his head, warning him. The man didn’t want to see him go through another boyfriend, and Justin couldn’t blame the man. He didn’t want to go through another boyfriend either, but… he just couldn’t keep himself away from Brian. The man was like a drug, completely addicting. He wasn’t sure how Brian felt about him… but he couldn’t imagine that theman actually loved him. Cared about him yes, but love? No. There was no way.

Brian Kinney didn’t do love. At least, that’s what he ha heard. He even heard it from Brian himself while sitting on Mel and Lindsay’s couch. He made himself quite clear about how he felt about the “L” word.

Justin removed the pillow, now finding it hard to breath. He felt a migraine coming on and his hand shook slightly. He got up and walked over towards his discarded bag and rummaged through it until he found what he was looking for. With the bottle of pills, that the doctor had prescribed to him after the Sap incident, in his hand he headed to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

After downing the pills he laughed, seeing Brian so clearly in his mind and hearing him rant on about tap water and how “you should always drink bottled water”. Justin shook his head. The man was such a queen sometimes.

Thinking of Brian brought the teen back to his earlier thoughts. Somehow he thought that the man not loving him, or ever loving him for that matter was a good thing, that way things between them could stay… fun, more about them than monogamy or flowers or romance. And although Justin couldn’t help but feel he wanted those things while with Brian, he knew that they were nothing but lies. Brian not loving him was for the best. Love did strange things to people and Justin would be nice and content if things just stayed just how they were.

Still… Justin couldn’t help the pang in his heart at the thought of Brian not loving him, and he couldn’t help the doubt in the back of his mind when he told himself that he didn’t love the man back.

~~~~~

Ben sighed happily as he slid back into the rental car he and Hunter had gotten for the day, in order to make the house hunting easier. They had just dropped Michael off at his store and Ben couldn’t help but feel like a teenager when the shorter man leaned up and gave him a kiss. He looked over at the teen in the car who was now sitting in the passenger seat having moved when Michael got out.

“So?” he asked, almost nervously.

“So what?” Hunter asked with a bored expression on his face. Ben rolled his eyes.

“So what did you think of Michael?” Ben asked while starting the car and putting it in drive.

“Eh.” Hunter replied.

“Eh?” Ben asked, raising an eyebrow “What does ‘Eh’ mean?”

“He’s… a bit goofy.” Hunter stated while he looked out the window at the passing buildings.

“He’s light hearted, I wouldn’t call that goofy.” Ben defended

“Well, I wouldn’t date him, but whatever…if you like him…” the teen trailed off. Ben knew his son well enough to know what was coming next. “Justin’s lighthearted… smart too.” he said. Ben sighed.

“Hunter…” he warned. The teen didn’t seem to hear him.

“He’s hot, got a great ass…”

“Hunter!” he snapped and Hunter gave him a blank look.

“What?” he asked innocently. Ben glared at him before turning his attention to the road again.

“Okay James, I don’t want to have to say this again…. Justin and I are NOT going to be together. Not now, not ever. He’s like a son to me… you two are friends! Why do you want us to be together so much?” he asked a little frustrated with his son, but not allowing the anger to seep into his voice.

Hunter was silent for a while. After a few minutes of not answering the man Ben finally sighed.

“I don’t get it Hunter. I could bring home Prince Charming and he still wouldn’t be as good as Justin to you.”

“See, now you’re getting it.” Hunter said.

“That’s not fair, James! Justin and I aren’t going to be together!” Ben exclaimed.

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t love him, and he doesn’t love me, not like that…”

“Well, what about that time when you guys-” Hunter started, but Ben cut him off.

“That was ONE time, and we both agreed that it was a big mistake. He is way too young for me not to mention that he and I both want different things. Plus, he seems pretty happy with Brian. I’m not going to do anything to mess with that.” Ben finished. Hunter sighed.

“So its not that you don’t want to be with Justin, it’s just that you think his new guy is in the way! If that Brian guy weren’t in the picture, you and Justin could be together!” Hunter concluded. Ben looked at the teen like he had just grown a second head.

“What? No! Hunter, were you even listening to what I said?” he asked and the teen gave him a blank look. He decided to change the subject.

“So which house did you like best?” he asked. Although Hunter didn’t seem to like the idea of changing the topic, he went along with it anyway.

“I don’t really care.” he said in his normal, nonchalant voice. Ben smirked. Every house they went to Hunter tried to act like he didn’t care. ‘Whatever’ was usually his answer when Ben would ask how he liked each one. However one house they went to, Hunter’s eyes lit up when they walked through the threshold. The paint on the walls was chipping badly and the kitchen looked like hell. The hardwood floors were scuffed and it had a faint smell of fish. Hunter however walked through the living room with a smile on his face, looking around in wonder like a child in a candy store. Ben had to smile and when he asked the teen how he liked it, Hunter did he best to mask his excitement and replied with a “Whatever.”

Ben smiled slightly and knew he had to call the real estate agent tonight and get more information on the house.

~~~~~

Michael smiled widely and walked over to the counter sitting behind it. He didn’t know if kissing Ben had been the wisest choice but he couldn’t help himself, he really liked the man. Hunter on the other hand… Michael sighed as he thought about the teen. He understood the boy would feel threatened by anyone his “father” would date, and he couldn’t blame him. The thought of his mother dating anyone gave him chills. He knew the boy wouldn’t warm up to him right away, if at all, but he couldn’t help but want the boy’s approval… for Ben’s sake. The man seemed relentless on getting the two to talk, to find something, anything they had in common.

Hunter was simply unwilling.

‘Oh well’ Michael thought ‘cant force it on him.’ he thought as he picked up the phone and started dialing Brian’s work number. A few rings later he heard Cynthia’s voice.

“Brian Kinney’s office, this is Cynthia speaking, how may I help you?” the woman asked professionally. Michael chuckled.

“It’s me Cyn, put me through will you?” he said in a false annoyed voice, she scoffed.

“Sure thing, Mikey.” she said putting emphasis on his nickname. He rolled his eyes.

A few minutes later Brian picked up.

“Hey Mikey, what’s up?” he asked calmly.

“Brian! I just had the best time!” Michael replied excitedly.

“You know I don’t like hearing about your masturbation escapades, God, you’re worse than Theodor.” Brian said teasingly.

“Brian!” Michael exclaimed, slightly offended. Brian chuckled.

“Fine, fine… go on.” Brian said. Michael murmured a small ‘thank you’ before moving on.

“I went out with Ben this afternoon!” he said. Brian had to stop himself from rolling his eyes.

“You guys go to the movies? Hold hands? Take a long walk on the beach?” he asked. Michael snorted.

“You’re one to talk mister ‘I Don’t Do Dates, Oh Wait, Here Comes Justin!’” Michael shot back and he could almost hear the other man rolling his eyes.

“So where did you two lovebirds go?” he asked. Michael smiled.

“We went house shopping!”

“Wow…don’t you think you’re going a bit fast?” Brian asked and Michael shook his head.

“No, it’s for him and his Son. They just moved here.”

“He has a son?”

“Yeah didn’t I tell you?” Michael asked.

“I don’t think so…”

“Oh, well, now you know.” Michael said happily.

“Well, Mikey. Seems like you’ve got a nice little ‘Stepford’ setup going for you.” Brian said.

“Could I get that in writing, Brian? For when, you know, you and Justin are exchanging vows.” Michael said and the line went quiet.

“Yeah, well, that’s great Mikey, I’m happy for you. I have to go.” Brian said in a flat tone that Michael recognized as the Brian Kinney ‘I’m going to hide my emotions’ voice.

“Brian-”

“Bye Mikey.” he sing-songed before hanging up. Michael sighed.

He wasn’t quite sure how he could have ever wanted to be with the man romantically. He wouldn’t be able to handle the Kinney mood swings. Justin, on the other hand, seemed quite equipped to handle them… he even had a few of his own.

“Those two are made for each other” he said to himself quietly “a match made in heaven… or hell.”

~~~~~

Brain lay the phone down in the cradle and sighed. His ‘thing’ with Justin was getting more and more confusing. He refused to call it a relationship but couldn’t deny it was something. So ‘thing’ seemed appropriate.

Brian wasn’t sure what had scared him more… the fact that Michael had teased him about getting married… or that the idea of marrying Sunshine didn’t seem so horrible. In fact… it gave him a bit of a rush. The kind of rush he used to get by tricking every night and fucking a stranger in the bathroom. The kind of rush he could only seem to get from Justin anymore.

He wasn’t sure what he was feeling. He tried his best to convince himself that it wasn’t love. He tried to convince himself that thinking about the blonde every fifteen minutes was normal, and the fact that every time he saw another blonde male he thought it was Justin wasn’t anything to write home about. He didn’t want to think about the lack of tricking that had been going on in his life since the young blonde had made a place in it. Not to mention that when he DID trick the first thing he did was compare the poor guy to his Sunshine.

No one even came close.

He didn’t want to think of how much he cared for the blonde and how frightened he was when he saw the teen lying in The Sap’s bed, paralyzed and looking particularly frightened himself. He didn’t want to admit that he was nearly in tears by the time they had gotten to the hospital.

He didn’t want to admit how scared he was that the said blonde would someday realize how much better he could do than Brian, and leave.

He didn’t want to admit to the pain he felt at even the thought of Justin rejecting him.

He certainly didn’t want to admit that no matter what he did, he couldn’t stop himself from falling for the blonde.

~~~~~

Justin sat in the passenger seat of Ted’s car on their way to Debbie’s for dinner. Ben and Hunter had apparently rented a car and were going to meet them there. Daphne was sitting in the back seat, perched and leaning forward slightly over the consol talking to Ted.

They had picked her up after Justin had called her earlier wondering if she wanted to go to the family dinner. She and Ted seemed to have a lot in common. They had rambled on about everything from opera to medical school to Zach O’Tool. Yes, Daphne had not only a large knowledge of, but a large collection of gay porn and he was damn proud of it. Had she had a dick he was sure she and Ted would be back at his apartment, fucking their brains out.

The two seemed to forget he existed as they talked on. Justin didn’t really mind. His mind was running on high thinking about Brian. He was excited to see the man tonight but was also dreading it somewhat. He wished he could just ask the brunette what he felt for him but knowing Brian he would just do a ‘Kinney spin’ and avoid the topic entirely.

Justin sighed as he saw the small house come into view and prepared himself for the long night ahead of him.

~~~~~

Brian sat on the couch in Debbie and Vic’s small house holding Gus in his lap. He watched the boy draw in a notebook with a blue crayon with his tongue sticking out of the side of his mouth and his brow furrowed in concentration. The man had to stifle a laugh at how adorable his son was and couldn’t help but see how much he looked like Justin when the other man would sit on his bed sketching after an evening of fucking. He shook his head willing himself to rid all of the thoughts bombarding him and instead concentrated on the door across the room, waiting for Justin. He felt a hand on his shoulder and jumped slightly. He heard Lindsay’s laugh.

“He’ll be here soon.” she assured with an amused smile. He scowled.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” he said. She laughed again.

“Okay Brian…” she replied as she sat next to the brunette. “You know… he’s never been interested in art before.” she said while motioning to Gus, who didn’t seem to notice her presence.

“He’s two.” Brian deadpanned.

“I know that. Its just anytime I tried to get him to draw or showed him art books, he’s never been interested. That it until Justin started babysitting him. Now its all he thinks about.” she said and Brian sighed at the use of the blonde’s name.

“Yeah, well, Sunshine has that effect on people.” Brian replied quietly.

“You mean making people think and feel things they never thought they would?” she asked and Brian knew that was a reference to him. He glared at her. Lindsay put her hands up in mock surrender and smiled. She opened her mouth to say something but she was interrupted by the door opening. Ted walked in followed by Justin’s friend, Daphne. Justin came in after with an unsure smile on his face. He couldn’t blame the boy for being nervous. After all he was introducing his New York family to his Pittsburg family. Hell he was surprised that the boy didn’t fake sick in order to get out of it.

He didn’t see the other two friends, Ben and Hunter so Brian figured they were coming later.

’Or not at all.’ Brian thought to himself, hoping the latter were true.

Justin looked towards him and blinded him with a bright smile and Brian couldn’t help but smile back.

“Jussn!” Gus exclaimed excitedly while holding his arms out to the blonde. Justin came over and plucked the boy from Brian’s lap and held him close.

“Hey Gus-man, how are you?” the blonde asked and the boy giggled happily at his nick name.

Brian’s smile widened at the scene.

He watched as his son twisted in Justin’s arms and pointed at the discarded notebook now lying on the floor. Brian picked it up and handed it to Gus who in turn showed it excitedly to the blonde.

“Oh wow, Gus, did you do these?” Justin asked and Brian rolled his eyes and smirked.

Gus nodded eagerly.

“They’re great, Gus-man! I love the use of blue.” Justin said while winking at the boy, who giggled madly. Brian saw the love and adoration in his son’s eyes as he looked at Justin. He chuckled.

‘Sorry Sonny-boy, Jussn’s mine.’

~~~~~

Justin passed Gus on to Melanie who had come to greet them. He looked back down at Brian and smiled when he saw the man’s smirk. All his earlier thoughts had gone out the window. As long as he was around Brian, he was sure things would be alright.

The blonde reluctantly broke his eye contact with Brian in order to introduce Daphne to Debbie, Vic, Michael, Emmett, Melanie, Lindsay and Gus. He turned to look but saw that his friend was currently doing so herself. He laughed as she talked to Debbie.

“I loooove your earrings, Mrs. Novotny!” she exclaimed while looking at the mini disco balls hanging from the woman’s ears. Debbie beamed.

“Call me Debbie baby, and thank you very much. I can make you a pair too, if you like.” she said and Daphne smiled.

“I would really like that Mrs. Novot- Debbie. Thank you.” she replied and Justin sighed.

‘So far so good.’ he thought ‘but we’ll wait until Ben and Hunter get here.’ he thought and looked back at Brian who had stood up and wrapped his arms around his waist. He smiled.

“You alright Sunshine?” he asked and Justin sighed as he breathed in Brian’s sent.

“I am now.” he whispered back and saw a grin spread over the man’s face.

“Hey!” they heard Lindsay snap “Not here!” she hissed and Brian laughed along with the rest of the bunch. Justin blushed.

Just then there was a knock on the door and Justin knew who it was. He sighed, hoping Ben and Brian wouldn’t fight. He was about to walk towards the door to answer it but saw that Michael was already on his way there. Justin looked at Daphne who was holding Gus and laughing at the boy as he played with her curly hair.

“Ben!” he heard Michael say, shocked and looked toward the door.

“Michael!” Ben answered back, equally as confused.

Silence followed but was soon broken by Hunter who exclaimed ‘Hunter!’. Daphne laughed and Ben shook his head.

“What are you doing here? I thought you said you couldn‘t make it.” Michael asked.

“I was invited by Justin.” the older man said while pointing at the blonde.

“Wait. Your guy is my Ben?” Justin asked ignoring the low growl that came from Brian at the ‘My Ben’ comment.

“Yeah, this is the Ben I was talking about.” Michael said while smiling. “Small world huh?”

Everyone laughed except for Ben, Hunter and Brian.

Well, since everyone is here, lets eat!” Debbie exclaimed while making her way to Ben. “I’m Debbie, Mikey’s mother.” she said and Ben smiled.

“Ma!” Michael whined at the use of his nick name in front of the man. Hunter sniggered quietly.

“Nice to meet you Mrs. Novotny, I’m Benjamin Bruckner, and this is my son James.” he introduced. Hunter winced at his name.

“Hunter.” he corrected from behind the older man.

The group headed towards the kitchen. Evidently there were not enough chairs and Lindsay ended up sitting on Melanie’s lap. Hunter spoke up.

“Justin can sit on Ben’s lap!” he said. Ben slapped the boy’s arm and with a hissed ‘James!’ under his breath. Justin sighed shaking his head.

“Why would Justin sit in Ben’s lap?” Michael asked confused, Brian looked at equally interested in the answer.

Ben laughed nervously.

“Its nothing. Hunter was just making a joke,” he said and looked at the teen next to him “right, James?” he finished with a glare. The teen rolled his eyes and sat down. Brian sat down as well and pulled the blonde into his lap and glared at Ben, who glared back but for different reasons.

~~~~~

Ben had hoped Hunter would keep his mouth shut about his feelings towards Justin and himself. No such luck so far. He looked over at Justin with an apologetic look and saw that the boy was being pulled down into Brian’s lap. The brunette glared at him and Ben couldn’t help but glare back. He didn’t like that Justin allowed himself to be pushed around by the man, it reminded him too much of Cody. He kept hearing Justin telling him that this new guy was nothing like Cody.

‘We’ll see about that.’ he thought as he sat next to Hunter and Michael. Debbie started handing out plates to everyone and soon they were all eating.

“So I get all the way home with this guy before he tells me that ‘he’ is actually a ‘she’!” Emmett said happily, Hunter gagged and Melanie laughed.

“Oh God.” she said.

“What did she expect you to do, fuck her anyway?” Hunter asked and Emmett laughed.

“Well I WAS in drag, and I make a pretty convincing woman thank you very much.” he said and the table laughed.

“I think Michael is more convincing.” Ben heard Justin’s cousin, Ted say, and the man next to him sunk into his chair. He looked at the younger man.

“You’ve been in drag?” he asked with a smile on his face. Michael glared at Ted and sighed.

“You just HAD to bring that up didn’t you?” he asked.

“You’re a drag queen?” Hunter asked laughing, Michael blushed more.

“No!” he exclaimed. Emmett laughed.

“Allow me to elaborate. Michael used to work for a bunch of homophobes you see, and he didn’t want to march in the Pride parade because he didn’t want anyone to see him there…”

“Even after he promised me he would march with me!” Debbie said while glaring at Michael who sunk into his chair even more.

“So Ted and I dolled him up and I must say, he was quite gorgeous!” Emmett finished and the table laughed.

“Okay, ha ha, I get it. Can we drop the subject now?” Michael asked with a red face. Ben smiled.

“Actually I think it was quite brave of you to march with your Mom like that, Michael.” he said to the blushing man. Michael smiled.

“Really, Ben?” Michael asked and he nodded. Michael seemed a lot more comfortable afterwards.

Ben looked up towards Brian and Justin, curious as to why they hadn’t said anything. He saw the two with their foreheads together, whispering quietly to each other. He saw Hunter glaring at them from the corner of his eye and sighed. As much as he didn’t trust Brian, he trusted Justin. He just hoped they didn’t have another Cody on their hands.

…Or another Chris.

…Or another Ethan.

Ben shook his head and gracefully picked up his wine glass and took sip. He looked at Michael who was talking to Vic about the comic shop and smiled. He knew Hunter had high hopes for Justin and him, but how could Ben even think about Justin like that when he had Michael?