Justin was bussing tables when Hunter stalked into the diner sporting a shiner on his left eye. He sat down at the counter to sulk. A few minutes later, Ben walked in and quietly sat down next to him. Ignoring Ben, Hunter picked up the cream and started drinking it directly from the container. “Hunter.” Ben said quietly taking the container away from him setting it down on the other side of him. “I wish there was something I could say to make this better.” “Well, there isn’t, okay.” Hunter grumped. “Those fucking assholes are never going to leave me alone.” Then added. “Fucking Callie’s dad.” “I know.” Ben sighed. “I really wish I could just rewind it all.” “Yeah.” Hunter said. “I just wish . . . you know.” Ben nodded and put his hand on Hunter’s shoulder. Hunter looked at him as silent tears slipped down the younger man’s face. He looked around then quickly wiped at his eyes. “It’s okay to be upset, Hunter.” Ben whispered. “Men don’t cry.” Hunter said. “That’s what my step-dad always said to me.” Hunter cleared his throat and wiped at his eyes again angrily. “Then again he was also the one hurting me at the time.” “You hungry at all?” Ben asked. “Kinda.” “Go to the men’s room and wash your face.” Ben said gently. “I’ll order you a burger, okay.” Hunter shrugged slid out of his seat and headed toward the bathrooms. When he came out Justin was standing by the bathroom door. Hunter gave him a look of disgust the teen seemed to use only when looking at Justin and made a grand motion. “All yours, Your Highness.” Hunter snarked. “You throne awaits.” “Nice shiner.” Justin quipped. “Ha ha.” “Bully trouble, huh?” Justin said nonchalantly. “What business is it of yours?” Hunter asked sharply. “Like you would know anything about it. Perfect little priss like you.” “Right.” Justin said looking at Hunter like he’d just grown an extra head. “I came out, well, I was outed at the age of 17. My classmates weren’t so happy about that.” Justin crossed his arms across his chest. “Then again, showing up for school in my 29-year-old lover’s Jeep with the word ‘QUEER’ scrawled across the side of it in pink spray paint isn’t exactly keeping a low profile.” “You did that?” Hunter asked sounding sincerely impressed. “Yeah.” Justin said. “Brian’s Jeep got vandalized while Michael had it, but that’s a whole other story completely.” Hunter’s curiosity piqued, he continued to listen. “Anyway, after that, I had to endure months of bullshit from a plethora of bullies. I was slammed into lockers, tripped, pushed, shoved, hell, my locker was even set on fire.” “No shit?” “No shit.” Justin pursed his lips and cleared his throat. “I took it. I tried to be strong. Wasn’t easy though.” “But, you had Brian.” Hunter asserted. “Sort of.” Justin said remembering the Brian from long ago compared to the one he lived with now. “He did save my ass one time, though. I had just gotten out of school, and these guys surrounded me. They had heard that I wasn’t living with at home anymore and that I was gay, so they were going to teach me a lesson.” “What happened?” Hunter asked. “Did they actually beat you up?” “No, Brian showed up in the nick of time.” Justin said thinking about that day and remembering how Brian saving him had made him feel. “I was lucky that day. If Brian hadn’t shown up when he did, who knows what might have happened to me.” Justin took a deep breath. “Unfortunately, I started to depend too heavily on Brian to always be there for me. Put too much pressure on him, too. So, when I got bashed at the prom -.” “You got bashed at your prom?” Hunter asked shocked. “You didn’t know?” Hunter shook his head. “Well, yeah, I did.” Justin closed his eyes for a second before continuing. “I don’t remember a lot of prom night. Unfortunately. Brian and Daphne have filled in most of the blank spots, but I may never remember for myself.” “Why?” “See this.” Justin said pulling his hair back revealing the scar left from the blow to his head. Hunter nodded after looking closely. “I got that scar from taking a baseball bat to the head that night.” Hunter looked at Justin like he’d just slapped him. “Holy fuck.” Hunter said. “Why the hell would anyone want to hit you in the head with a baseball bat?” “Good question.” Justin said ruefully. “Maybe you should ask the asshole who did it. Although more than likely he’ll say I deserved it because I’m a little faggot.” Hunter looked like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “See, I went to prom with Daphne, which I think I remember, but I’m not sure if I really remember it or if I just remember her telling me that we went.” Justin shook his head as if to clear it. “That doesn’t matter though. Daphne and I were dancing and Brian showed up. I had asked him to go with me, but he turned me down. That part I do remember. Anyway, Daphne said Brian and I danced. She said we looked ‘fucking awesome together’. Which, of course, I can believe.” Hunter rolled his eyes but continued to listen. “We left the ballroom at the hotel and headed out to his Jeep. I don’t remember it, but Brian said we were dancing and goofing around. I really wish I could remember that.” Hunter nodded. “Anyway, we kissed good night and he said, later and I said later and then I headed back in to get Daphne so I could take her home.” Justin paused a second or two. “This part I do remember, but it’s kind of like watching a movie of something that happened to someone else.” He bit his bottom lip for a second then continued. “I was walking away and I heard Brian call my name. When I turned around, the bat was swung. Everything went dark and I don’t remember anything else until I woke up in the hospital two weeks later.” “Fuck.” Hunter said in an awestruck whisper. “So, this guy, did you beat the shit out of him when you saw him again?” “No.” Justin said regretfully. “I acted like a scared little fairy and went running home. I wasn’t exactly strong enough then to do anything about him.” Justin snorted a laugh. “I was a scared little fairy at the time.” “And, now, what, you aren’t?” “No, I still get scared from time to time, but I don’t run away anymore.” “How come?” “The Pink-fucking-Posse.” Justin simply said. “That bullshit vigilante thing you were into?” Hunter asked. “Yeah, that bullshit vigilante thing I was into.” “What did you beat a bunch of ‘phobes’ up?” Hunter asked. “Is that why you feel all big and bad now?” “No, well, we kinda did, beat up a few people that is, but that’s not what made me feel stronger.” Justin corrected. “Cody, the guy who started the Posse, taught me how to defend myself. It’s probably the only good thing that came out of my involvement in that group.” “I know how to fight.” Hunter said defensively. “But, do you know how to defend yourself?” Justin countered. Hunter looked at him confused. “There is a difference. I could give you some pointers. Maybe help you avoid anymore shiners.” “Why would you want help me?” “Because you’re important to Ben and Michael.” Justin explained. “And, Michael is important to Brian and Brian is important to me. See how that works?” “But, you don’t even like me.” Hunter spat. “Who said I don’t like you?” Justin countered. “I may not like you hanging all over Brian the way you do, but that’s no reason to dislike you. You’re like the little brother I never wanted.” Hunter laughed at that. “Okay.” Hunter said. “When and where?” “There’s an old boxing gym near the river.” Justin said. “I’ll write down the address and give it to you before you leave.” “Okay.” Hunter said nodding. “Hey, there you are.” Ben said walking toward them. “Come on. Your food’s getting cold.” “Be right there.” Hunter called. “Thanks, Justin.” Justin nodded as Hunter headed back out into the dining room. -- Justin was warming up on the speed bag when Hunter arrived. Hunter watched for a moment as the small suspended bag moved in a blur as Justin hit it. Justin turned suddenly surprising Hunter. “Sorry.” Justin said. “One can never be too safe when out of your jurisdiction so to speak. This ain’t Liberty Avenue.” “You’re pretty good.” Hunter said. “Cody teach you that?” “Yeah, for the most part.” Justin said. “I learned a lot from just watching the others here, too.” He paused and looked around. “Ben and Michael don’t know you’re here, do they?” “Told them I was gonna be with you.” Hunter said. “Didn’t say where.” “That’s okay.” Justin said with a nod. “Michael has my cell phone number to get in touch if he needs to.” “So, what are we gonna do first?” Hunter asked. “First lesson.” Justin began. “Your stance and your hand position. Are you a lefty or righty?” “Righty.” “Good, me too.” Justin said with a nod. “Won’t have to wing it. You ready?” “Sure.” “Then let’s do it.” -- After two weeks of Hunter disappearing with Justin everyday for a couple of hours, Michael started getting suspicious and, of course, had to share his suspicions with Brian. “Where do you think they go?” Michael asked Brian as they say eating lunch at the diner. “Who knows? Who cares?” Brian said. “You don’t think they’re fucking, do you?” Michael asked with a horrified look on his face. “I sincerely doubt it, Michael.” Brian said. “They can barely tolerate each other normally, so it probably has something to do with school.” “So, you think that Justin’s tutoring Hunter?” Michael said incredulously. “Maybe.” Brian shrugged. “The lad is a genius after all.” Michael just rolled his eyes. “I don’t think I like it.” Michael said furrowing his brow. “I mean, Hunter can be a bad influence and God knows the bad influence you are on Justin.” “Hey.” Brian said. “Sorry, that wasn’t fair.” Michael said staring down at his plate and shoving more of his sandwich into his mouth hoping that Brian would stop staring at him. “Hey, sexy.” Hunter purred as he slid in beside Brian. He was trying to get as close to Brian as possible with he was lifted bodily out of the seat by a smiling, yet menacing looking Justin. “Not so fast, homeboy.” Justin said shoving him into the seat beside Michael instead. “Hey.” Justin said to Brian leaning in for a quick but hot as hell kiss. “Hey, yourself.” “What have you two boys been up to?” Michael said trying to sound nonchalant and failing miserably. “Nothing.” Justin said but Brian saw a spark of mischief in the younger man’s eye that he planned to investigate later on. “I’m starving.” Hunter said flagging down a waitress and ordering what seemed like half the food on the menu. “Jesus.” Michael huffed. “What the fuck? Didn’t you eat breakfast this morning?” “Yeah, but that was like 6 hours ago.” Hunter said. “You got up at 6 o’clock in the morning on a Saturday?” Michael asked astonished. “Yeah.” Hunter shrugged. “Willingly?” Hunter rolled his eyes and shrugged again. Michael looked to Justin but the other man’s face was virtually unreadable. “Okay, that does it. What the fuck is going on between the two of you?” “Nothing.” Hunter said a little too quickly. “Justin?” Michael said switching his attention away from Hunter. “I’m tutoring Hunter.” Justin said flatly. Brian knew it was a lie as soon as the words left Justin’s mouth but said nothing. “You know he got a C on his last math test and he asked for my help, so I’m helping.” “Yeah, fine, whatever.” Michael said. He seemed to know it was a lie, too, but his frustration with the both of them put a stop to his questions for now. -- “You lied to Michael.” Brian said the minute he closed the door to the loft. “Why?” Justin turned to look at Brian his face still neutral. Brian pursed his lips and waited for the blond to speak. When he didn’t, Brian did. “Are you two fucking?” “No.” Justin said a look of complete disgust on his face. “Then, what the fuck is going on between you two?” “It’s nothing. Really.” “Then why all the secrecy?” “Because.” Justin began. “Because if Michael and Ben knew that I was teaching Hunter to defend himself against the assholes at school, they’d have a duck.” “You’re doing what?” “I saw Hunter and Ben at the diner a couple weeks ago.” Justin explained. “Hunter had a black eye. I guess he got into a fight at school because someone told everyone he’s positive.” Brian nodded. He’d been pretty pissed himself when he’d heard about the bullshit Callie’s father had pulled at the swim meet. “Anyway, we got to talking and I offered to help him by teaching him to defend himself so he wouldn’t get hurt.” “And, how are you doing that?” Brian asked but then remembered about Cody. “Oh yeah, that’s right, Cody taught you to fight.” Brian rolled his eyes. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” “I’m trying to help.” Justin said. “It might have been nice if someone had done the same thing for me when Hobbs was knocking me around my entire senior year at St. James.” Brian looked away trying not to let Justin see the pain on his face. “I’m not blaming you. I’m blaming Hobbs and St. James and all those homophobic assholes who let him do it and didn’t lift a finger to stop him.” Justin shook his head. “I’ve been teaching Hunter how not to get hit. How to keep from getting hurt. How to use the other guy’s strength against him. Defense, Brian, not offense. If the guy can’t hit Hunter, then nobody gets hurt.” Brian looked up at Justin then. “Nobody else gets infected.” “Is he any good?” “Actually, he’s a pretty quick study.” Justin said. “He even had a run in with one of the guys on Friday. He was able to keep from getting hit. And, he made the asshole look stupid when he hit a locker in gym instead of Hunter’s face.” Justin smiled. “It sounded kinda funny actually.” “You two need to tell Michael and Ben what you’re doing.” Brian said seriously. “They need to know in case of an accident. And, what about you? You could get Hunter’s blood on you, then what?” “We’re always careful.” Justin said. “You taught me that.” Brian looked at Justin strangely for a moment before Justin explained. “You told me to always be careful because you wanted me safe and you wanted me around for a long time.” Brian nodded remembering the conversation quite well. “I never took that conversation lightly, Brian. It was the closest you ever came to saying you loved me.” Brian said nothing then closed the gap between them and pressed his lips to Justin’s. The kiss deepened as both tugged at the clothes of the other. Before either of them could think straight they were both naked on the bed, Justin writhing beneath Brian as he kissed the smaller man relentlessly. Justin could barely catch his breath as Brian kissed, nipped and licked his way down Justin body to his waiting hard-as-a-rock cock. Brian ran a single finger down its length eliciting a long, guttural moan from Justin who arched his back trying to get more of Brian’s skin on his own. Brian smiled a malicious smile. It never failed to turn Brian on when Justin lost himself to lust and need. The sound and vibration of that moan went straight to Brian’s cock and all higher brain functions ceased. Only one thing remained. Only one thought. Justin. -- “I think we’re going to have to come clean with your dads, Hunter.” Justin said as he and Hunter were sparing a couple days later. “No way.” Hunter said shaking his head. “If they knew they’d probably have a cow or something. Tell me to stop. I don’t want to stop.” He stopped moving and put his arms down. “That’s a good way to lose your head.” Justin said indicating Hunter’s lax pose. “Stop for a second.” Hunter said pulling his sparing head gear off. “I said I don’t want to stop. This is the strongest I have ever felt. And, I’m good.” Justin huffed a laugh. “I am. I made that guy at school look like a complete tool last week when he tried to hit me and landed his punch on my locker instead.” Hunter smiled at the memory causing Justin to smile back. “I still say you should tell them.” Justin said pulling his own head gear off. “We could tell them together. Hopefully convince them that there is no reason to worry.” “Please.” Hunter sneered. “Michael’s favorite past time is worrying. And, Ben’s gonna bring up the fact that I’m HIV positive and that I’m now putting you at risk.” “Brian doesn’t have a problem with me helping you.” Justin stated flatly. “He knows I’m always safe and I’m not even fucking you.” “Like that’d ever happen.” Hunter said rolling his eyes. “Fuck you.” Justin said throwing at towel at the teen. “Look, I just think it might be a good idea to tell them what’s going on.” “And, if they tell me I have to stop.” “Then we convince them you shouldn’t have to.” “Yeah, good luck with that.” “Hey, with a united front, Brian included, we should have a decent shot at convincing them.” Hunter just rolled his eyes, climbed out of the ring and headed for the locker room. -- “You’ve been doing what?” Michael shouted. “Justin’s been teaching me how to defend myself against the assholes at school.” Hunter said sitting on the couch. Justin was standing behind the couch waiting his turn at being reamed by Michael. Brian sat at the table watching it in feigned disinterested. “What the hell does Justin know about it?” Michael asked. “Just calm down, Michael.” Ben said standing up. “Now, let’s hear this out.” “I happen to know quite a bit about defending myself, Michael.” Justin piped in. “Calm down.” Hunter said. “It’s not like we’ve been fucking or anything.” Michael glared at him obviously not finding that at all comforting. “Justin’s been teaching me how not to get hit. So, I don’t get hurt. If they can’t hit me, then there is little or no chance of direct blood to blood contact and zero chance of others getting infected because they’re stupid enough to try something in the first place.” “When did this all start?” Michael asked. “And, why didn’t you ask us if it was alright first?” “Yeah right.” Hunter rolled his eyes. “That would have gone over like a lead balloon. You would have said no, just like you always do. I would have gone on dealing with the bull shit as school and you would have kept telling me to ignore it.” He shook his head. “It’s kinda hard to ignore the fists in your face and the pushes and shoves and trips.” “What did you hope to accomplish?” Michael asked sarcastically. “Did you want them to think you were big and bad? So they would think twice about bothering?” “No.” Hunter said. “Justin wouldn’t have agreed to help me if that had been all I was after.” Michael and Ben looked at Justin who shrugged and nodded agreement. “I just wanted to keep my ass safe and if that meant that those assholes stayed safe as well, then that was okay, too.” “What about Justin?” Michael asked. “What if you had started bleeding while you two were practicing or whatever? You would have been putting him at risk, thus putting Brian at risk, too. Did you even think about that?” “Yes, we did.” Justin stated flatly. “We took every precaution.” He looked at Brian then back to Ben. “Besides the object was to keep him from getting hit or having to hit back.” Michael crossed his arms across his chest. “Hitting was always a last resort. Period.” “You guys don’t have to live this everyday.” Hunter said. “I do. I had to learn how to deal with it on my own terms and Justin helped that’s all.” “That’s all.” Michael huffed. “Is this what that the letter I got from your principal last week was all about?” “Some asshole jock tried to hit me.” Hunter said. “Told me he caught me looking at his ass or something. I tried to walk away. I tried not to let it bother me, then he pushed me into the lockers. What was I supposed to do let him smear me all over the locker room just so as not to bring attention to myself? To be all Zen-like or something.” “Don’t be a smart ass.” Michael scolded. “I’m not.” Hunter countered. “I’m being honest.” He paused and took a deep breath. “That day at the diner.” He looked at Ben who nodded. “I was so close to running away. You have no idea. I just wanted all of it to stop. It would’ve been so easy, too. I even knew what I was going do. I was going go wash my face in the men’s room like Ben told me and then I was going sneak out through the kitchen and be gone. G-o-n-e, gone!” He looked up at his foster fathers and saw the shock and surprise in their eyes. “I knew that I couldn’t go back to that school again and try and deal with it and have you tell me to ignore all the bullshit and not be able to. So, I was going to do what has always served me well in the past. Run.” “And, you ran into Justin instead.” Ben said remembering seeing them talking when he’d gone back to find out what was taking Hunter so long in the restroom. “And, I ran into Justin instead.” Hunter repeated. “He told me about all the shit he had to deal with when he was in school after he was outed.” Brian looked up sharply at the back of Justin’s head. “He said that he learned how to defend himself from that spaz that was at the GLC meeting after Darren got bashed.” Brian reached over to Justin silently taking the other man’s hand in his own. “So, he offered to help me learn to deal. That’s what I did. What I’ve been doing. Learning to deal.” “You could have told us, Hunter.” Ben began. “We would have -.” “No, you wouldn’t have.” Hunter said. “You would have flipped out like you’re doing right now and told me not to go anymore. You’d’ve taken away the one outlet I have right now where I can hit something full of sand and pretend I’m turning some asshole’s face into goo instead of actually hurting someone and getting my ass hurt, suspended or worse.” “So, you want to continue this?” Ben asked. “Ben, are you nuts?” Michael asked looking at the other man like he’d just grown another head. “Michael.” Ben said. “If he’s being safe and he’s getting his frustrations out, then why not let him continue?” “Because he could get hurt.” “Baby, he’s already been hurt.” Ben said quietly. “Time to let him heal a little. And, if this works, then who are we to say no?” “All right.” Michael said finally. “But, you had better be careful. And, don’t pick fights with people just because you think you can beat them up and -.” “I know all that already, Dad.” Hunter said knowing that the use of the endearment would shut Michael up quickly. “Asshole.” Michael said and pulled Hunter up into a hug. Ben smiled and hugged them both. “Should we all sing ‘Kum Ba Yah’, now?” Brian said breaking the tension. Michael rolled his eyes at his best friend and Hunter started laughing. Ben smiled and ruffled Hunter’s hair. Justin just looked a Brian and smiled squeezing his hand a little tighter. -- “You told Hunter about all the bullshit you went through at St. James, huh?” Brian said later when he and Justin had returned home. “Yeah.” Justin said but didn’t make a big deal about it. “Do you need to talk about that stuff?” Brian asked suddenly serious. “I know we don’t talk about it, but if you wanted to, or if you needed to, I’d listen. You do know that, right?” “I just don’t bring it up.” Justin said. “I know how hard all of that was for you to deal with, and I don’t want to hurt you.” “I’m a big boy Justin.” Brian said pulling the smaller man to him. “If you need to talk about it then you need to let me know. I’ll listen. I might even talk about it, too, but it’s still pretty . . . pretty difficult sometimes.” Brian looked down but Justin lifted his chin so they were eye to eye again. “I just want you to tell me about our dance.” Justin said with a shy smile. “I want to see it through your eyes so, that even if I never remember it on my own, I’ll have your memory of it, so I know it’s real.” “It was real all right.” Brian said. “Hang on.” He walked over to the CD player and rummaged through the contents of the CD caddy before putting one in and hitting play. The beginning stands of ‘Save The Last Dance For Me’ wafted through the loft. “Come here.” Justin walked over to where Brian was standing. “You were standing there with Daphne looking like quite the hottie in your tux.” Justin smiled. “When I walked in. I saw you immediately. It was like I had radar or something.” He smiled and Justin blushed slightly. Brian ran his finger along Justin’s cheek. “We walked out in the middle of the floor. We had it all to ourselves. Everyone else was just standing there staring at us. Everyone wanted to be me.” “Or me.” Justin said softly. “The music started to play and we just started out by moving together not touching. I’m surprised your face didn’t split in two from the smile on your face.” Brian started to move then and Justin followed his feet. “I wrapped my scarf around your neck and took you into my arms. I have never been one for ballroom dancing, but we moved pretty good together. I could see the astonished looks on your classmate’s faces and I reveled in it. In you.” They danced silently for a moment or two. “We danced across the floor. I twirled you around.” Brian twirled Justin then pulled him tightly to him. “Then I dipped you.” He leaned forward hold Justin tightly around the waist. Justin leaned back in the same way he did prom night and Brian smiled. “Then I picked you up and we spun around together.” Brian demonstrated lifting Justin up just enough to clear the floor. “And, when you landed, I kissed you.” Brian leaned in and captured Justin’s lips just as he had that night just three short years before. Justin’s eyes fluttered closed and he pulled Brian more closely deepening the kiss. “I took you by the hand and we ran out of the room and down to the parking garage.” Brian added breathlessly when he finally pulled away from the kiss. “Wow.” Justin said still held tightly in Brian’s arms. “That sounds pretty amazing.” “You were.” Brian breathed then leaned in to kiss Justin once more pausing for a fraction of a second to look in his eyes before their lips met in a soft almost chaste kiss. “If I could remember only one thing about that night,” Justin said softly, “if would be dancing with you.” Justin laid his head on Brian shoulder dancing closely until the music stopped. Then, Brian took his hand and led him up the steps toward the bedroom. “Let me show how that night should have ended.” Brian said softly. Justin smiled, nodded, and followed Brian into the bedroom. The End.