Justin finished getting dressed and got out of his room.    He found his mother and sister having breakfast on the patio.  He sat down and smiled at them.  

“Where is dad?” Justin asked as he reached for a cloth napkin.

Mary moved quietly as she put a plate in front of the blond and served him breakfast.  She poured the boy some juice and smiled at him before she moved back.

“He had to work,” Jennifer told him.  “Molly, sit up straight.”

Molly sighed and straightened her back.  

“Mary, can you bring me more coffee?” Jennifer asked.  

“Yes ma’am,” Mary said and nodded before she went to get it. 

“I’m going to the mall with Bobby and Vaughn,” Justin told her.  “And I need money.”

“Okay honey,” Jennifer told him and smiled when Melissa came into view with Jason in her arms.  “My baby boy.”

Justin rolled his eyes and looked at his sister.  He smiled at her before he stuck his tongue out.   Molly laughed and did the same. 

“You’re getting so big,” Jennifer said.  “God, Justin, he starting to look more like you.”

Justin looked at his baby brother and frowned.  “I don’t think so,” he said and took a few bites of his toast.

Jennifer thanked Mary when she brought her more coffee.  “Bring me my checkbook,” she said looking at Melissa.

The woman nodded and quickly did what she was told.

“Can I go with him?” Molly asked.

“There is no way I’m taking you with me brat,” Justin said.

“Don’t call me a brat,” Molly yelled.  “I’m not!”

“Justin,” Jennifer said.  “What have I told you?”

Justin sighed and rolled his eyes.  “Can I use your car, mom?”

“No,” Jennifer said.  “When you get your license you can have your own car, not a moment sooner.  Plus you have Spencer to drive you around.”

Justin rolled his eyes.  “I hate him.  He gives me the creeps.”

“You’re a scary cat, Justin,” Molly said laughing.

Jennifer shook her head and handed Jason to Melissa when the woman was back.  She took her purse and gave Justin six hundred dollars plus her credit car when the boy begged for it.  She smiled at him and kissed him on the forehead before he left.

“Hey you,” Justin said as he walked into the kitchen looking for Spencer.  “Let’s go.  I want to go to the mall.”

Spencer couldn't believe the teen's timing.  He just had sat down to eat his breakfast.  He got up and exited the house through the back to get the limo.  He waited for Justin at the front of the house.  Half an hour later the blond appeared and they were on their way.  Spencer stared at the blond through the rearview mirror until Justin noticed him and closed up the divider.  He hated that the kid had made him wait for nothing when he could have eaten something.

Justin shook his head as he used his cell phone to call his friends and tell them that he was on his way to pick them up.  He wished he had his own car.  He couldn’t wait to try to get his license yet again.  If not he was going to have to beg his father to solve the problem some other way.  He smirked knowing that one way or another he was going to get what he wanted.

***
 
“You think so?” Vaughn asked as he looked himself in the mirror with the new hat in place.  “Is it really me?”

“Yes,” Bobby said pushing her hair behind her ears.

“Hey C.J.,” Justin said grabbing the girl by the arm and pulling her away.  “Are you coming with me tomorrow?”

“To that club?” she asked pulling out her cell phone when it rang.  “It’s Erick.”

Justin rolled his eyes.  “Listen to me for a minute.  I’m going to go with or without you.”

“Do whatever you want,” Celeste told him before she walked away to find a place to sit.

“Hey, Jus,” Vaughn said smiling.  “Are you going to buy that stuff?”

Justin looked at it and shrugged.  “Yeah,” he said picking the shirts he had grabbed with Bobby.  He had bought them with the single purpose of using them to go clubbing.  He couldn’t wait for that.

“I know what you’re doing,” Bobby said smiling.

Justin frowned and walked away from her to pay for his stuff.  She followed him smiling.

“Come on, Justin,” Bobby said pouting.  “I’m not going to tell anyone.  It’s not like they don’t know you’re gay.”

“Shut up,” Justin told her as he stood behind a woman.  He turned to look at his friend.  “What do you mean everyone knows?”

“Celeste told Vaughn and he told me,” Bobby said and once again pushed her hair back.  “I haven’t told anyone but I always thought you were.”

Justin was angry that Celeste had fucking told them.  

“I can go with you,” Bobby whispered.  “If she doesn’t want to go.”

“She told you about that too?” Justin asked.  “Jesus Christ.”

Bobby laughed.  She thought that Justin was funny.  The boy was scared that anyone would find out about him.  And what anyone meants was Justin's parents finding out about it.  

“I don’t think so,” Justin told her.  He was taking Celeste because she had the right attitude and because she looked older.  

Bobby looked like she was fourteen years old and that was the last thing he needed.  He wanted to get into Babylon not turned around at the door.  He would go by himself if he had to.

“Just be careful then,” Bobby said.  “You know we can’t function without you.”

Justin laughed at that and wrapped his free arm around her waist.  “You’re so cute sometimes.”

“Oh shut up,” Bobby told him.

“Guys,” Vaughn said walking over to them.  “Here you go.  You can buy it for me.”

Justin rolled his eyes.  “Go find C.J.”

Vaughn nodded and walked away.

“You know that he has a crush on her,” Bobby told the blond.  “He told me.”

Justin shook his head and wondered if his friends could keep a secret to save their lives.

***

“What are you going to do?” Michael asked.

Brian shrugged as he and his best friend sat at the edge of his bed.  He looked around the loft where everything was pretty much gone.  

“I can’t believe that asshole won,” Michael said.

“Yeah,” Brian muttered.  “I shouldn’t have fucked him.”

Michael sighed.  He knew that Kip Thomas was going to be trouble the moment Brian mentioned him.  He just didn’t think it would be so bad.  Brian had lost his job, his money and was pretty much going to lose his loft too.  That was without taking into consideration that his reputation as an ad exec was pretty much destroyed.

“Can you get another job?” Michael asked.

“I’ve tried,” Brian assured him.  “There is nothing.”

“Jesus Christ,” Michael said.  “Brian, you can stay with us if you want to.”

Brian looked at his friend and smiled.  “Thanks, Mikey.”

“Want to go out?” Michael asked.  “Let’s have a few drinks.”

“Yeah,” Brian told him as he got up.  “I’d like that.”

They walked to Woody’s because Brian didn’t have the Jeep anymore.  When they got there Ted and Emmett were already at the bar.  The first round of beer was paid by Brian, but the others were paid by Michael after fighting the brunet on it.  

“You’re going to pull out of this,” Emmett assured him.

Brian sighed and didn’t say anything. He was tired of everyone telling him that everything was going to be okay.  He knew he was totally screwed.  He knew that he was fucked in the advertising world.  News got around of what had happened and nobody was going to hire him.

“Want to play?” Michael asked nodding towards the pool table.

“Not really,” Brian told him.  “I’m going to go.”

Michael looked at his friend and nodded slowly.  He kissed Brian on the lips before the brunet left.

“Fucking shit,” Brian said as he started walking to the loft.  He took out his cigarettes and lighted one.  He thought about everything that had happened to him and wondered if he deserved it.  Maybe he did, he concluded.  When he was close to his home it started raining.  He groaned and walked faster. 

He was almost inside when a piece of wet newspaper slapped him on the face thanks to the strong wind.  He grabbed the offending piece and stared at it a few minutes.  He was going to throw it away until he saw the section that was reserved for employment.  He sighed as he folded it and got inside before he got pneumonia.  That was the last thing he needed at the moment.

***

Michael frowned as he pushed the door open with his foot.  He was carrying a box with some of Brian’s things.  The brunet was right behind him.  The older of the two looked around and frowned.  The place was so small and it looked like it was about to fall down.   He’d already seen the place a few times but it was always a shock to him.  He couldn’t believe where Brian had ended up.  The kitchen and living room were in the same space.  There was the bathroom and the bedroom and that was it.  Everything looked like it had been shoved together.

“Those were the last two boxes,” Brian said. 

Michael nodded.  There wasn’t much in the new apartment.  A bed that Emmett had found at a good price for Brian but that was it.  It lay on the floor with Brian’s expensive sheets and duvet.  There weren’t any pieces of furniture aside from that.   There were some small appliances that Brian managed to keep.  Everything else Brian had sold to get some money.

“I hate this place,” Brian said.

Michael turned to look at his friend.  “You could have stayed with me and Emmett.”

“No way,” Brian said.  “I like having my privacy.”

Suddenly they heard a baby crying as if it was next to them.  Michael arched a brow.

“The walls are tin,” the brunet said and shrugged like it didn't bother him.

“So, have you found any jobs?” Michael asked trying to keep a positive outlook of things.

“Oh yes,” Brian said.  “It’s not my thing and I don’t have any experience but the guy said he would give me the job.”

“It’s not porn or anything like that, right?” Michael asked.

Brian laughed.  “I would have taken that.”

The older man shook his head.  “No way, Brian.”

“Relax, Mikey,” Brian said kneeling on the floor to open the box he was carrying.  “All I have to do is drive.”

“Drive?” Michael asked.

“I’m a taxi driver,” Brian told him.  “I start tomorrow.”

“Really?” Michael asked.  “That’s not so bad.”

“Is way bad,” Brian told him.  “It’s all I could get.  That and a job as a waiter and really that’s something I won’t do.  I can drive a person to the end of the world but I won't deal with people and food.  Most of the people that are hungry have an attitude."

Michael nodded and he sat Indian style in front of the taller man. 

“He said that if I fucked up I won’t have a job,” Brian told him.  “Which I’m still trying to figure out how anyone would fuck up driving from point A to point B, but you never know.”

Michael laughed at that.  At least Brian was his old self by being sarcastic like always.

“I was talking to one of my old friends,” Brian said.  “He’s going to see if he can find me a job.  I…I would have to move to New York though.”

Michael didn’t like that idea.  

“Can’t you get something here?” Michael asked. “You’re the best damn ad exec there is.”

“Yeah,” Brian said pulling out some sweaters from the box.  “But who the fuck is going to hire me, Mikey?  After what happened they are scared that I’m going to do it again.  You know that Kip took a large chunk from Ryder’s agency.”

Michael nodded.  “Yeah,” he muttered.

Brian shrugged.  “It’s better than nothing. I’ll probably start like a junior executive which is very fucked up.  But while he does that I have to work on something or I’ll be living on the street. ”

“You could have stayed with me,” Michael pointed out yet again.  “You know that Emmett and I wouldn’t have minded.”

“Yeah,” Brian said.  “But if this doesn’t pull through I would still have to find a job and sooner or later I would have had to find a place.”

“Brian, I’m really sorry that this happened,” Michael told him.

The brunet shrugged and pretended like he was okay with everything.  “Ah, Mikey, shit happens.”

***

Justin was having a good time. He couldn’t believe that he'd been able to get into Babylon.  Then he’d met a guy, Zach, and they had been dancing pretty much all night.  

“You really are hot,” Zach said grabbing the blond’s butt.

Justin laughed and pushed the man’s hands away.  He looked around and smiled at the guy.  No one knew but he was kind of shy when it came to displays of any kind in front of others.  Not becase he was a prude or anything but more because it was all pretty new to him.

“Do you want to get out of here?” Justin asked.

Zach smiled. “We’re going to have a good time.”

Justin nodded slowly.  “We could.”

“Do you want another beer?” Zach asked.

“Yeah,” Justin told him.

“I’ll be right back,” Zach told him.

Justin nodded and waited for Zach to go get it.  When the man gave him the beer he smiled and took it.  He drank from it and got up from where he was sitting.  He grabbed Zach’s hand and they started walking out of there.  Justin managed to put the beer, which was half empty in a surface before he pulled the man out of the club.

“You know I have a bottle of champagne in the limo,” Justin said.

“Limo?” Zach asked.

Justin nodded.  “Come on,” he told him.

Zach followed him and thought Justin was joking until he saw the limousine.  He whistled and ran a hand over it.  He gasped when the driver got out.

“Who is this?” Spencer asked.

“My friend Zach,” Justin told him.  “I want you to take us to the hotel.”

Zach smiled hearing that.

“Shit,” Justin said when he walked and almost fell down.  “I…think…fuck,” he laughed.  “I almost tripped there.”

Zach frowned.  

“What did he drink?” Spencer asked.

“Just beer,” Zach muttered and swallowed.  

Zach had used a very small amount of GHB on the blond.  It was enough to get the blond going and yet participate on what he planned.  All night he had tried to take Justin to the backroom and the blond kept pushing him off.  He wasn’t going to risk going with the boy anywhere to then be turned down.

Spencer frowned and opened the door so Justin could get inside.  Justin moved inside and rubbed his face.  The driver looked at Zach again and saw that the man looked like a deer caught in the headlights.  

“Justin,” Zach said.  “I have to go.”

“What?” Justin asked. “Why?”

“I have work in the morning,” Zach said and quickly turned around.

“Do you want my number?” Justin asked and frowned.  He stuck his head out but Zach was walking away.

“Watch your head,” Spencer said shaking his head.  Then he got in the limo to drive home.

Justin closed his eyes and leaned back.  He couldn’t believe his luck.  “Hey wait,” he said.  “I want to go back to the club.”

Spencer didn’t know what to do.  He was sure that Zach had done something to the blond.

“Mm, I don’t feel good,” Justin said suddenly.

Spencer looked through the mirror but didn’t see Justin.  He kept on driving but stopped when Justin started complaining about his head.  He stopped the car to go check on the blond.  “Justin?” he asked when he opened the door.

Justin tried to crawl outside.

“No wait,” Spencer said.  “I think I should take you to the hospital.”

Justin rubbed his face.  Spencer caressed the blond’s face and the blond didn’t push him away.  He licked his lips and moved his hand to the boy’s chest.  Still Justin didn’t say anything or moved away.  Spencer pushed Justin back on the seat and got on top of him.

“Spencer,” Justin whispered.  “What…you doing?”

“It’s okay,” Spencer whispered.  “You’re going to like it.”

The driver moved his hand and started touching Justin’s cock.  He smiled and opened the boy’s pants.  

“No,” Justin grunted.  “I…go.”

“Relax,” Spencer told him.

“No!” Justin yelled and tried to pull away.  

Spencer moved back and sighed.  He didn’t know what to do now.  If he took Justin home and he told anyone what he tried to do they were going to fire him or worst.  “Fucking shit!” he said running his fingers through his hair.

Justin sat up slowly and looked towards the open door.  There were two of them and he crawled towards it.  

“No,” Spencer said grabbing Justin’s hand.

The blond kicked him and moved out.  When he was on the floor he heard the man yelling something about blood.  He pulled himself up with the help of the door and started walking away. 

Spencer moved his hands away from his nose and got out of the back of the limo.  He looked around but he couldn’t see the blond.  

“Justin!” Spencer yelled.  “Justin!”

But the blond was gone.

***

Brian waited for the lady to get out of the taxi and pay him before he drove away.  It was late and he was tired of driving around.  He loved to drive before but now he was sure he hated it.  He looked at his watch and he still had one more hour to go.  He thought that maybe no one would call or stop him and he could spend that hour parked someplace where no one could see him.  Then just as he finished the thought they called him telling him to go pick someone up.  He listened to the address and told them that he was on his way.

The brunet lowered the window and lighted a cigarette.  He cut through the alley to get to the street he needed.  He was almost on the street when something caught his eyesight.  He slowed down and frowned when he saw a figure right on his path.  He stopped the car and got out.  

“Hey,” Brian said not sure if there was a person or an animal so he took a step closer.  “Hello? Move out of the fucking way!" he yelled and sighed when there was no response.

He walked over to the person on the floor who was in the fetal position.  He moved slowly until he was kneeling next to him.  He checked for vital signs and felt them but they were very faint.  He picked the boy up in his arms and got him on the back of the taxi.

“Jesus fuck,” Brian said looking through the rearview mirror once he was back in the car.  

Brian drove towards the hospital instead.  Nothing like that had ever happened to him.  He kept looking at the figure of the boy wondering what he was doing in the middle of the alley.  When he got to the hospital he picked Justin up once again and took him inside the ER.

“I need help,” Brian said.

“What happened to him?” the nurse asked.

“I don’t know,” the brunet told her.  He looked at the blond’s face and frowned.  “I found him on the streets.  His heart is slowing down.  I think, I don’t know.”

“What’s his name?” she asked Brian.

“I don’t know,” Brian told her getting exasperated.   “I don’t know him.  I just found him.  He's just a kid.”

She nodded and moved to call for a doctor.  Brian let them take the blond away and he looked at his watch.  He still had time to go finish his job but he didn’t.  He stayed around until the wee hours of the morning when the nurse informed him that the guy was going to be okay.  They told him that they had found his parents and they were on their way.

Brian nodded and finally left the hospital.  He just had wanted to know that the boy was going to live.  He didn’t know why but it made him smile.  When he went to the station to drop off the taxi and explain what had happened his boss, Cal, was very angry.

“Where have you been?” Cal asked.

“I was at the hospital,” Brian informed him.

“Where you in an accident?” Cal asked eyeing the taxi and not Brian.

“No,” Brian replied.  “I can explain…”

“How you fucked up?” Cal asked.

Brian sighed.  “Look I was on my way there and…”

“No,” Cal said.  “I told you I was going to give you one chance, Kinney. Only one.”

“But,” Brian tried to explain.

“I don’t want to hear it,” Cal said.  “I’ve heard every excuse in the book.  You don’t even have a week on the job.  Jesus fuck,” the man complained as he shook his head.  “You’re gone.”

Brian wanted to yell at the man but he controlled himself.  He nodded turned around and left.  When it started raining Brian wasn’t a bit surprised about it.  He couldn’t believe that his life could get more fucked up.  He looked up at the sky and it looked like it was going to be raining for a while.