Brian looked at Justin who was looking around while their kids ran all around the room. “We made this floor into a daycare mainly for our kids,” Brian smirked. Justin laughed. “I bet.” “Do you want to go downstairs and see where we work?” Brian asked him. “Yes,” Justin told him. Then they were back at the foyer of Kinnetic’s offices. Justin like the vibe the place was giving him. It was warm and inviting. “Do you want to see your office?” Brian asked. “Oh yeah,” Justin was eager to see what it looked like. It would tell him more about himself. “It’s this is the one,” Brian said opening the door and letting Justin step inside first. “There is surely a lot of color here,” Justin smiled and looked back at Brian. “It feels welcoming.” Brian nodded and closed the door after they were inside. Justin looked around his eyes scrutinizing some things while his hands touched others. He smiled and picked a picture he had on his desk of his family. He smiled from ear to ear seeing how all of them were smiling. He wasn’t going to let anything push his happiness away not even the fact that he felt like a stranger to himself. “Uh, that door leads to your bathroom and that one to my office,” Brian said and sat down. Justin smiled. “Do you think this is weird?” “What?” Brian asked. “This moment,” Justin said. “You telling me all this like I’m a total stranger.” Brian looked at the floor. He found it unfair. “I think that yeah, it’s a little strange. I never imagined something like this was going to happen to us.” Justin walked to his chair and sat down. “I don’t like it here. I don’t know this place. I don’t remember even choosing this chair.” Brian didn’t know what to say. “We can take everything out and you can do what you want with it.” Justin shook his head as he got up quickly. “I have to get out of here.” “Justin,” Brian muttered as he got up as well. “What do you mean?” “Brian,” Justin walked towards the door. “I need to be alone right now.” Brian wanted to stop the blond. “Hold on.” “What?” Justin asked. “Where are you going?” Brian asked him. “Do you have money on you? How about a cell phone?” “No,” Justin said. “Well, what if I need to get a hold of you?” Brian asked. “What for?” Justin asked. “In case something happens with the kids,” Brian hissed. “Fuck.” Justin frowned. “Brian, I’m not trying to make you mad.” “Here,” Brian said taking his cell phone and giving it to the blond. “Here is some money too.” Justin looked at the money and the cell phone in his hands and put them on the desk. He took a deep breath and shook his head. “I’m sorry.” Brian frowned. “I shouldn’t go anywhere,” Justin told him. “I...I should stay here.” “Justin,” Brian pulled the blond towards him. “I’m not telling you not to go. You can go and do whatever you have to do. Just take the cell phone with you and some money okay. I’m sorry I reacted like that. I’m being overprotective of you. I’m worried with all that has happened.” Justin smiled and kissed Brian. “You’re great.” Brian smiled and kissed him back. This time they didn’t pull back. Brian turned them around so that he could push the blond on the desk. “Oh god,” Justin moaned as their cocks rubbed against each other. Brian looked at the blond for a few seconds knowing that his blond was there somewhere. He pushed those thoughts away and kept on kissing Justin. He moved his mouth to attack Justin’s neck. He wanted to be inside of the blond no matter what. “Don’t stop,” Justin moaned. “Oh god.” Brian wasn’t planning on stopping. Unfortunately, they had to stop when there was a knock on the door. “Do you have to answer that?” Justin asked as he kept sitting on the desk. Brian unlocked the door and opened it. “What is it?” “We need to talk,” Ted said. “Right now?” Brian asked. “Is this work related?” “Yes,” Ted looked inside and waved at Justin. “Hey, Jus.” “Hi Ted,” Justin told him. “I’ll be there in a minute,” Brian said to the man. Ted nodded and left towards the conference room. Brian walked back to the blond and handed him the phone and the money. Justin took it. “Thanks.” “I guess we have to continue this later,” Brian kissed him one more time. Justin nodded. “You go and be careful,” Brian told him. “Okay,” Justin assured him. They kissed once again before Justin was gone. Brian stayed in the office a few more seconds. He found himself with mixed emotions, grateful that Justin was alive. But Brian was also sad because it wasn’t his Justin that came back to him after the coma. In all, he felt that his life had never been the same since he spotted the blond just outside Woody’s so many years. So if Justin was changing his life again he would go along with it, anything to not lose his angel. *** Debbie smiled when Chris came to the house with Vicky. “How was work honey?” “A little out of control,” Chris told her. “It smells delicious.” “I hope you’re hungry,” Debbie told him. “I made fried chicken, mash potatoes and salad.” “Good,” Chris told him. “Where is Andrew?” “He’s sleeping,” Debbie told him. “I’m going to set the table sweetheart.” “Okay,” Chris said. “I’ll go upstairs and check on him.” Vicky stayed downstairs with Debbie. Chris went up the stairs and went into the bedroom. He smiled briefly as he saw his son in the crib sleeping. He was about to leave but stopped himself and stared at the closet. He walked slowly to it and opened it. He felt like he had been hit in the stomach; all the air left him as he froze for a few seconds. Swallowing hard he moved closer to the clothes that were hanging inside. His hand grabbed one of the shirts and pulled it out. Chris smiled as his hand ran over the piece of cloth. He looked at the other stuff inside and took a deep breath. He put the shirt back with the others and looked down. He pulled out a box and saw a few comic books and old high school books. He stared at them for a long time not able to stop himself from what he was feeling; he was missing Michael like hell. “Honey,” Debbie said from the door wondering where everyone was. Chris had gone up the stairs like half an hour ago and not come back just like Vicky. Chris stood up and looked at her. “I was just looking at some stuff.” Debbie nodded. “Vicky came up. Where is she?” Chris frowned and walked towards Debbie. “Victoria,” he called. “Daddy!” Vicky yelled. Andrew started crying, awaken from the sudden noise. “I got him,” Debbie told Chris. Chris walked towards Debbie’s room and looked around to find Vicky sitting in front of the dresser. “What are you doing, sweetie?” “Pretty,” Vicky told him. Vicky had applied too much makeup to her face and was wearing one of Debbie’s red wigs along with a bright fuchsia shirt that fit like a dress. Thank god she can’t read the shirt, Chris thought as he went to his daughter. She had also added several layers of Debbie’s jewelry to accessorize her outfit. “Oh my god,” Debbie said coming into the bedroom while she held Andrew. “I can’t believe this,” Chris said smirking. “She’s a mess.” Debbie laughed. The girl sometimes got to see her when she got ready for work. She was doing what she’d seen. Chris picked her up. “What am I going to do with you?” “She’s adorable. I wish we could take a picture,” she told the blond. “Hold that thought,” Chris told her as he put his daughter on the floor. He went to his car to get his camera. He always carried one in his car in case the one at work failed. When he came back in the house Debbie had Vicky sitting on the sofa. “Okay,” Chris said. “Let’s take a picture.” “Yes,” Vicky shrieked and clapped her hands. She smiled widely and screamed, “Cheese.” Debbie laughed. Chris took the picture on the digital camera. Then he looked at it and nodded. “Perfect.” “Let’s take one of all of us,” Debbie said sitting down. Chris set the camera and put it on top of the T.V. pointing it at them. He went and sat down and in a few seconds the picture was taken. “Yay!” Vicky clapped her hands. “More!” “She loves it. You have a star in the making,” Debbie said putting Andrew on the floor. “Come on let’s eat first then we can take more pictures.” Chris got up and went to get the camera. He looked at the picture and smiled briefly. He closed his eyes and realized that was the first picture that they had taken as a family where Michael wasn’t part of it. *** Justin sat down for a while staring at a painting of a boy holding on to someone’s hand. He smiled as he watched the painting. Justin felt as if he could identity himself with the painting. Right then he was feeling like a lost boy waiting for someone to offer a hand to him. “Hi, I’m Irving,” a tall handsome guy said to Justin. Justin stared at him for a few seconds. “Justin.” “You like this painting?” Irving asked. “Yeah,” Justin told him. “I can’t stop looking at it.” “That makes me very happy,” Irving told him. “You painted it. You’re the artist?” Justin asked. “Yes,” Irving sat down next to Justin. “You have a lot of talent,” Justin told him and went back to stare at the painting. “Do you want it?” Irving asked. “What?” Justin asked. “No, I couldn’t afford it.” “I’m giving it to you,” Irving told him. “No,” Justin said as he looked once again at the painting and got up. “Wait,” Irving said. “Where are you going?” “I have to get home,” Justin looked at the cell phone that started ringing. He didn’t recognize the name but answered anyway. “Hello.” “Hi,” Brian said. “It’s me.” “Where are you calling from?” Justin asked. “The office,” Brian told him. “Someone is lending me their phone.” “Oh,” Justin looked at Irving who was just standing there. “I was calling you to make sure you were okay,” Brian said. “I know that’s stupid because you’re a big boy and all that.” Justin smirked. “I’m not a big boy Brian, I’m a man.” “Right,” Brian laughed. “I’m going home with the kids. Could you meet us there? They are asking for you.” “I was on my way,” Justin told him. “I’ll take a cab and be there in no time.” “I can go pick you up,” Brian suggested and then started yelling. “Hold on a minute. Put that down young man. Don’t look at me like that!” Justin smiled briefly imagining Brian trying to deal with the kids. “Don’t dare to drop it!” Brian yelled. “Justin I have to go.” “Okay,” Justin frowned as he saw that Irving was still looking at him. “Later,” Brian told him and hung up. “I’m sorry about that,” Justin put the phone away and stared at Irving. “I’m sorry, is there something that you want?” “You’re beautiful,” Irving said smiling. “Wow,” Justin laughed. “Thanks, I guess.” “Look there is this café just...” “Look,” Justin stopped him. “I have to go home. My family is waiting for me.” “Oh,” Irving searched into his pockets and pulled out a card. “Here, why don’t you call me sometime? We could hang out.” Justin looked at the card and back at the gallery. “You own this place?” “It was my fathers,” Irving said. “Now it is mine and I’m trying to work on running the gallery. Unfortunately it has left me with little time to concentrate on my own art.” Justin smiled at the man in front of him. He liked the fact that he was meeting new people. It felt kind of normal to meet someone that he didn’t know before his accident. Someone that he was sure he didn’t know a thing about because he was new in his life. It was also a relief to meet someone who didn’t expect him to remember all the details of their previous encounters since they had none to share. “Could I drop you somewhere?” Irving asked. “No,” Justin shook his head. “It’s okay. I like getting the places I need to be on my own. I...never mind that, I know what I’m talking about.” “If you say so,” Irving laughed as he looked at the blond. He was feeling inspired like never before standing so close to Justin. “So, we’ll see each other around,” Justin started walking away. “Yeah,” Irving said as he watched the blond go. He definitely wanted to see the blond again. *** Chris looked at his drink and shook his head. He didn’t know why he had let Debbie and the guys convince him to come to Woody’s. It had been three months since Michael had died and he wasn’t ready to be hanging out. “Honey,” Emmett told him. “It’s just a few drinks and we’ll leave.” Chris smiled at his friend. “I know that.” “Good,” Ted said. “You need to relax, slowly let it go.” “I don’t want to let it go,” Chris told him very strongly. “Fuck,” Ted looked at Emmett. “I didn’t mean it like that.” “It’s okay,” Chris said. He knew his friends meant well. “Look,” Emmett tried to put things in perspective. “We’re trying to make you feel good. This past month you have been very stressed out and we just want you to relax a bit.” Chris nodded just so they would drop it. “Can we leave in a bit?” “Sure thing,” Ted told him and looked at his watch. “I have to work tomorrow.” “Thanks,” Chris told him. He took a sip of his drink and looked around. He stared at a man at the far end of the bar. “Shit.” “What?” Emmett asked worried. “I know that guy,” Chris said feeling a bit nervous. “Who?” Emmett looked to where Chris had been looking. “He’s the owner of Vicky and Andrew’s day care,” Chris told them. “He’s going to think that I’m a total asshole for being here instead of home mourning my husband.” “Don’t say that,” Emmett told him. “I want to go now,” Chris said. “I’ll go get the car,” Ted said seeing how broken Chris looked. “I’ll pay,” Emmett gripped Chris arm. “It’s okay.” Chris stayed by his table. He knew it had been a bad idea to go out. “Hey,” Tobias said as he came close to Chris. “Hi,” Chris looked like he had been caught doing something very wrong. “Are you okay?” Tobias asked. “Oh, yeah, yeah,” Chris took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Yeah.” “You don’t look so good,” Tobias said. “Look Mr. Hammond,” Chris started. “No,” Tobias said. “Please call me Tobias or Toby.” Chris nodded. “Well, Tobias I’m...I’m here with some friends. I really...didn’t want to be here.” Tobias nodded and smiled. “There is nothing wrong with that. I don’t want to be here either. My friends brought me here, but what are you going to do,” he said and shrugged. “I don’t have other friends and they’re not that bad.” Chris laughed. “Yeah,” he knew exactly what Mr. Hammond meant. “Are you ready to go?” Emmett asked looking at Tobias. “Hi,” Tobias said. “Sure,” Chris looked at Emmett. “This is Mr. Hammond. He’s Vicky’s teacher. This is my friend Emmett.” “Nice to meet you,” Mr. Hammond said. Emmett nodded. “I’ll see you around,” Tobias said before he left. “Fucking hell,” Emmett said. “He’s fucking hot. Uh, wow. Did you see his eyes? They’re so fucking great. And that smile,” Emmett shook his head. “He’s to die for.” “Can we go now?” Chris asked suddenly wishing he never agreed to come. Emmett put his arm around Chris. “Yeah, let’s take you home.” Chris leaned close to his friend. He wasn’t sure he could have stayed another minute in there. He missed Michael so much. Chris wasn’t ready yet and understood it may take a while before he healed. It was hard being a single parent. Chris longed to share so much with Michael. Sometimes when Vicky did something funny or he had a bad day at work it was Michael, Chris longed tell. But Chris was trying to not come unglued for the kids. When he was prepared to let go of Michael he would not a minute before. Although deep down Chris thought he would never be ready. *** Brian paced back and forth. He didn’t know what to do anymore. Every since that day at the office Justin loved to disappear and come home really late. He was worried about Justin and not sure what the blond was doing with all his time. He hoped that the blond wasn’t in any kind of danger. He couldn’t say anything because Justin always called to let him know he was okay. “No!!” Sheridan screamed. Brian walked over to the play pen to see Sheridan and Keefe fighting over a toy. “What’s going on?” He asked in a stern voice. “Ahhh!” Keefe started running around and Brian wasn’t sure what was going on. Liam laughed and kept coloring next to Fiona. Illona was pushing buttons in the little toy computer that her parents had gotten for her. She was fascinated by all the voices that came from the object. Sheridan ran away with the toy car. Brian pinched the bridge of his nose and picked Keefe up who was still running around in circles. “What’s with you little man?” Brian asked. Keefe giggled and rested his head against Brian’s chest. “Ungy.” “I’ll get you something to eat in a second,” Brian walked to the kitchen and stopped when he heard the motorcycle. He walked to the living room and looked out the window. He saw Justin getting out of a motorcycle and then waving at whoever was driving. Brian frowned and walked back to the kitchen. He took out a bottle of juice and gave it to Keefe while he turned on the stove so he could make the boy some asparagus which was his new favorite food. “Down!” Keefe shouted. Brian was surprised and put him down. He laughed as he saw the boy run away. “Hey,” Justin said. “What are you doing?” “I cooked dinner,” Brian told him. “I left everything in low the food is warm. Keefe said down very clearly,” he was smiling like a fool. “That’s so great,” Justin told him as he lifted one of the lids for one of the pots and looked inside. “Mmm, that looks good.” “It was your turn to cook,” Brian told him. “I forgot,” Justin said. “Yeah,” Brian muttered. “What?” Justin asked. “I’m sorry, okay.” “Who was that?” Brian asked as he stared at the blond, “the guy that dropped you off.” “That’s Irving,” Justin told him. “Have you lost your mind, Justin?” Brian didn’t know what to think. “What were you doing riding a motorcycle?” “He gave me a ride home,” Justin pointed out. “Where are the kids?” “In the playpen,” Brian told him. “Anything could have happened to you.” “Nothing happened,” Justin looked at Brian and arched a brow. “Who is he?” Brian asked again. “He’s a friend,” Justin told him. “You don’t know him,” Brian was so jealous. “I don’t know you either right now,” Justin told him. Brian felt like he had been slapped. He didn’t even know what to answer. Justin was pretty much right about their situation. “Look,” Justin frowned not sure what to do. “I would like to have some friends.” “You already...” Brian stopped himself from saying anything else. Justin really didn’t have anything if he couldn’t remember anyone. “I’m sorry.” Justin smiled as he moved closer to Brian. “He’s is a friend and nothing else.” Brian nodded. “I don’t like him that way. I like someone else,” Justin said. Brian looked at the blond. “What the fuck are you talking about? Whom the fuck do you like?” “You!” Justin said. “You moron! And stop talking like that, the kids can hear you.” Brian stared at Justin before he started smiling like a fool. He cleared his throat as he nodded. “I knew that.” Justin threw his arms around the brunet. “Sure you did.” Brian wrapped his arms around the blond’s waist. He kissed him on the neck. “Oh god,” Justin moaned. “I liked it when you do that.” “We can’t,” Brian told him. “I wish I could take you right here but the kids are up.” Justin sighed. “I...I’m going to serve us.” Brian frowned and let him go. He didn’t know what was with the blond. He had felt him stiffen as soon as he mentioned them being together. He was just overreacting and he would try to calm his insecurities. He couldn’t lose his mind; he had to be there for Justin. He knew he had to be patient and everything would work out or so he hoped.