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“That is so fucked up,” Melanie said. “Mel,” Lindsay said as she looked from her to Gus. “Sorry,” Mel said. “I’ll find something else,” Brian told them. Lindsay and Mel looked at each other with sad expressions. Mel had tried to do her best to help Brian but still Kip had won. She felt guilty that she couldn’t have done a better job. “Are you staying for dinner?” Lindsay asked. Brian nodded slowly. “Sure, why not? I have no place to be.” “I’ll ask around,” Melanie said. “Maybe someone is looking for a personal advisor or something related to that. You could do that.” The brunet shrugged. Melanie stood up and grabbed his wife’s hand. Then she pulled her towards the kitchen. “Oh my fucking god. He needs to find a job soon. He looks defeated.” Lindsay sighed. “I can ask around and see what I find out.” “We should call the guys,” Melanie said. “We can help him while this gets better. Lindsay, he’s so skinny.” Lindsay smiled and hugged her wife. “You care about him.” Melanie sighed. “Brian can be an asshole sometimes but he doesn’t deserve this. Plus he never lets his family down when they need him,” she said and took a deep breath. “When we needed him.” Lindsay thought she was going to cry. “I’ll call Michael and maybe he can find a job for Brian at the store.” “I don’t know if Brian would go for that,” Melanie said. “Ted?” Lindsay asked. Melanie scrunched her face up. “I’ll call my mom. She always knows of something.” Lindsay nodded and went back to the living room where Brian was tickling Gus. “So, are you done talking about me?” Brian asked. He hadn’t heard them but he imagined it. “Don’t be silly,” she said sitting down next to him. “Hey Gus.” Gus moved his hands and feet when he heard his mother. He smiled and started laughing when he felt fingers tickling him again. He didn’t know why but it made his whole body shake as he tried to get away. “He’s so beautiful,” Lindsay said. Brian nodded. “If you need me to watch him or something…” the brunet said because it was the only thing he could offer at the moment. “I wouldn’t mind that,” Lindsay said. “I could pay you.” “Lindsay,” Brian said sternly. “Or not,” Lindsay said and sighed. “You know you can count on us for anything. If you need money…” “Don’t worry about it, Linds,” Brian told her and moved down to kiss his son on the forehead. “Maybe I should go.” “After you eat,” Lindsay said. “And if you say no I’ll bring Melanie out here to wrestle you down.” Brian rolled his eyes at her. He smirked and kept playing with his son. “So um,” Lindsay said. “I want to see your place.” Brian frowned. “There is really nothing to see.” “Are you…do you need money for like food?” Lindsay asked. “Lindsay…” Brian started to protest. “Brian,” she said sadly. “Let me help you.” “I don’t need help,” Brian told her. “I’m an adult. I can take care of myself.” Lindsay sighed and nodded. That didn’t mean she was giving up. She would give what she could to Michael knowing that he would find a way to get Brian the money and take care of the brunet. *** Michael had come to see Brian and had brought food with him. He and Brian ate on the floor. They were drinking the last of the beer that by now was warm. They were laughing as they talked about old times when the lights went out. “What the fuck?” Michael asked as he looked up at the ceiling. “Brain?” “What?” The brunet asked with a sigh. The brunet was surprised but only that they didn’t cut the power sooner. “Do you have candles or something?” Michael asked. “No,” Brian said getting up and walking to the door. He opened the door and the light from the hallway helped a bit. “We can go to my apartment,” Michael suggested. “Nah,” Brian said. “I have to go to sleep anyway. I’m going to look for a job in the morning.” Michael nodded. “Hey, um, Brian, I could pay for the bill and then later on…” “No,” Brian told him. “God, Brian!” Michael said getting up angry. “I’m tired of this bullshit. Whenever I needed help you were there for me and now that it’s my time to help you, you won’t let me. I wish you would swallow your goddamn pride!” “Fuck you, Mikey!” Brian said. Michael took a deep breath and let it out as he walked over to the brunet. “Look we can do this the easy way or I can call Ma and tell her what’s going on and I mean every detail of what you're going through. She would come here and drag you out and make you stay with her.” “Michael,” Brian warned. “You can pay me back when you get a job,” Michael whispered. Michael frowned when Brian’s didn’t answer. He looked up at his friend and saw Brian’s broken face half of it hidden by the shadows. He felt like crying at that moment. He knew that the best he could do was keep quiet. He closed the door and dragged the brunet to the bed. Then after his eyes had adjusted to the darkness he picked the remains of the food and threw everything on the trash. He was sure that by then the roach colony that lived in Brian’s apartment had stepped over it. When that was done he went to the bed with his friend. He took of his shoes and his shirt and lay next to Brian. “You know when we were kids,” Michael whispered. “You always protected me.” Brian wrapped his arms around Michael. “Let me do it for a while,” Michael said. He took the brunet’s silence as a yes. *** “So you woke up in the hospital and no memory of what had happened?” Vaughn asked. “Yeah,” Justin said yawning as he lay back on the pool chair. “What did your father say?” Vaughn asked. “He asked me what had happened and I didn’t know. He tried to find Spencer and I was so fucking scared because then he would tell him where I was, but Spencer is nowhere to be found,” Justin said. “No shit,” Vaughn said shaking his head. “Maybe you killed him?” Justin laughed. “Right. So the nurse told me that a guy brought me in but she didn’t know his name. He claimed he found me in the middle of nowhere.” “Damn,” Vaughn said. “What did your mom say?” “She was crying for me,” Justin told her. “The doctor said I was okay. They used that shit…the rape drug on me but so far there weren’t any signs of abuse.” “You’re so fucking lucky, Justin,” Bobby said. She had her eyes closed listening to everything. “I fucking told you to be careful.” Justin shrugged. “I remember a guy name Zach but I really don’t know what happened to him.” “Maybe he vanished too,” Vaughn said smirking. Justin laughed at that. “Maybe.” “That’s so fucking crazy,” Bobby said turning around. “And now I’m grounded,” Justin said. “Mom is not sure why she grounded me. I’m not allowed to go out for a whole week.” “Well it serves you right,” she told him. “Something could have happened to you. Something bad.” The boys rolled their eyes at Bobby. Justin was just happy that they didn’t found out where he’d been. “Mister, Taylor?” Peter said. “Do you need anything?” “Can you bring me something to eat?” Justin asked. “Oh, tell Mary to cook us some steaks. I like the way she makes my food better than Albert.” Peter nodded and walked away. “So are you going to miss Alex’s party?” Vaughn asked frowning. “You can’t Justin. Everyone is going to be there.” Justin smirked. “I’ll talk to mom,” he said and batted his eyes at his friends. Bobby and Vaughn laughed knowing that Justin’s mom couldn’t say no to the blond; pretty much no one could when the blond set his mind to it. *** “Okay I found you a job,” Ted said. Brian looked up from his coffee. “What?” Ted sat down on the booth. “There is this lady that my mom knows. Her name is Mary and she works for the Taylors.” The brunet kept staring at Ted like he was from another planet. “It’s not a great job, Brian, but for now it might work. Mr. Taylor is looking for a driver and you could do that if you want. I mean they will pay you twelve dollars an hour or maybe more, who knows,” Ted said. “She said she would lie and say you’re her nephew if you want it.” Brian opened his mouth and closed it again. “Well?” Ted asked. “You want to help me?” Brian asked. “Why not?” Ted asked as he looked at Brian. He shrugged and made a signal to Kiki to come get his order. “You are my friend, Bri.” “Don’t call me Bri, Theodore,” the brunet said annoyed. Ted laughed a bit. “So? Do you want it?” Brian shrugged. “I’ll take it.” Ted nodded and pushed a piece of paper to the taller man. “Use one of your nice suits. She told me that Craig Taylor was a total prick. He thinks he’s God or something. Try to contain yourself okay.” Brian rolled his eyes and nodded. He looked down at the number and sighed. He really hoped he got the job. His friend from New York had called telling him that he had no luck finding him a place at his agency. Brian sent other resumes to other places and still they hadn’t called him back. He sighed and wondered who he had fucked with, aside from Kip Thomas, to deserve such bad luck. *** “The job starts at ten in the morning,” Craig said as he walked with Brian to the foyer. “It ends up when my son is back in the house.” Brian nodded at that. “That scheduled will change when summer is over. When school starts he needs to be driven there and back. He needs to be there before eight o'clock,” Craig informed him. “When he’s at school you will be here in case my wife needs you or even one of the employees. And during school days he has to be home by seven. Do you understand everything I'm saying?” The brunet nodded yet again. Ted was right about Mr. Taylor. The guy was a total prick but he was doing his best to contain himself. “I need someone I can trust Mr. Kinney,” Craig said. “I would need to know about my kid’s whereabouts.” Brian nodded at that. “I need you to keep an eye on him,” Craig said taking a deep breath. “He thinks he’s invincible or something.” The brunet smirked at that. He remembered when he was seventeen. “This job is temporarily,” Craig told him. “Until my son gets his license.” Brian nodded. “But if you do a good job I will take it under consideration,” Craig said. “That’s no problem with me,” Brain assured him. He just needed something to get by until something better came alone. It was kind of odd that he still had hope that things would change around. "Sir," Craig said. "Of course, sir," Brian said and felt like strangling Craig Taylor. “Here are the keys for the car,” Craig said. “You will be using the Benz until the new limousine arrives.” “Yes, sir,” Brian said. “Mary said you are trust worthy,” Craig said as he walked to the entrance. “I hope she’s not wrong.” Brian didn’t say anything. He just stared at his new boss. “Daddy,” Molly said. “Who is this gentleman?” Craig smiled at his daughter. “This is Mr. Kinney. He’s your brother’s new driver.” Molly looked at him and smiled. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said handing out her hand. Brain shook it. “He’s not one of my business partners, Molly,” Craig told her. “You don’t need to shake his hand sweetheart.” Molly nodded slowly and turned at Brian with a smile. “It’s nice to meet you too,” Brian assured her. “Justin’s last driver disappeared,” she told him. “I know he ran away because Justin is a brat.” “Shut up, Molly,” Justin said coming into the foyer. “Dad! I need money to buy things for school.” Craig nodded. “Go ask your mother for it.” Justin sighed turned around to do just that. “That’s Justin,” Craig said. “Mary said you could start immediately.” Brian nodded. “That would do,” Craig said looking at Brian’s suit. “Always wear black, Mr. Kinney. That would be your uniform.” Brian nodded again. Craig looked at his watch. “I have to leave now. I would talk to you at the end of your work day, Mr. Kinney,” he said before he turned around and left. Brian watched him go and then stared at Molly who was smiling at him. He smiled back and then walked outside to where the car was. It was a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren. Brian shook his head as he started at it. He tried the keys and it was a match and he couldn’t help the smile that crept over him. The car’s color was silver and it was a beauty. “Justin used to have a big limousine but that disappeared too,” Molly said. “Daddy got him this car until he buys another one. Justin likes to be driven in a limo. He says all his friends fit better.” “I bet he does,” Brian told her. “How old are you?” “I’m eleven,” she told him. “I’m going to be twelve soon.” He smiled at that. “How old are you?” Molly asked. The brunet arched a brow and didn’t answer. The girl scrunched up her nose. “That was rude?” Molly asked him. “I’m sorry.” Brian chuckled at that. “It’s okay.” “So you’re it,” Justin said as he walked towards them. Brian nodded slowly. “Well, I’m going to see my friend,” Justin told him then looked at the door. Brian took a step forward and opened it for him. Justin got inside and the brunet closed the door. “Are you going to disappear too?” Molly asked grinning. Brian smiled at her. “I pretty much doubt it. Bye,” he said to her as he got in the car. *** “So how was it?” Ted asked. “It was a piece of cake,” Brian told them. “Really?” Emmett asked. “That’s good.” “I was offered a room to stay there but I turned it down,” Brian informed them. “I want to have my privacy.” “God knows you need it,” Emmett said smirking. The guys laughed at Emmet’s words. “Can you believe I’m getting pay to do this?” Brian asked smirking. “Just for driving the brat around. Today he went to see a few friends and I stayed back in the car. I was dying of boredom but next time I’ll take a book or something.” “I want a job like his,” Emmett said. “Not fair.” Michael smirked and shook his head. “Thanks Ted,” Brian told him. “You really helped me out.” Ted smiled. “It’s no problem, Brian.” “Mary talked to me about how I’m supposed to address everyone and shit,” Brian said. “A fucking headache that was.” “Brian,” Ted warned. “Don’t worry,” Brian said. “I’ll follow orders.” “Things are looking up,” Michael said smiling. Brian nodded with a smile. “Who wants more beer?” Emmett asked getting up. “Let me,” Brian said getting up and going to the bar to ask for it. Michael got up from the table and went after his friend. “You’re happy,” he pointed out. The brunet smirked and asked for four beers. “I’m in a good mood.” Michael smiled. “It was fate or some crap like that,” Brian said. “How do you figure?” Michael asked him. “Do you remember that kid I told you about?” Brian asked. “The boy that I took to the hospital?” Michael nodded. “It’s him,” Brian said smirking. “If I hadn’t stopped he would have died and I wouldn’t have this job now.” “You would still have the old one,” Michael pointed out. “But this one is so much better,” Brian pointed out taking a sip of one of the beers when they were put in front of him. “I mean it would help a lot while I find something else. I am sending more resumes to Chicago and New Jersey too.” Michael sighed. “I wish you would find something here.” “Well, unless Ryder changes his mind I don’t see that happening,” Brian told him. “The fucking bastard.” Michael squeezed Brian’s shoulder. “Forget him. Let’s celebrate your good luck.” Brian drank to that. He had no idea what was in store for him.