(Thank you so much Helen for beta'ing while Gerri is busy at Uni. You are so sweet. ) Family Dinner two weeks ago Brian followed Justin outside under the impression for a cigarette but they both knew the truth; they needed to talk without the family around. But of course they also both knew that they would have their noses and ears pressed against the doors and windows as if they had a secret to end world hunger. What they didn’t know though was that Shae and Kira were up in Deb’s room where the window was open so they could hear everything. Brian: “Justin, I..” Justin: “what, you’re sorry? I am tried of you being sorry for nothing. I am sorry she got hurt but why are you hurting me? Brian you need to make a choice, because I don’t know how much more Shae and I can take.” Brian: “Are you saying you won’t let Kira and Shae see each other?” Justin: “no, I would never do that; but you won’t see me…” Justin walks over to Brian and places his hand on his chest. Justin: “I love you more than anything and that scares me, but I won’t wait forever” He pulls Brian down for a slow lingering kiss and walks back into the house As the family sees him walking inside, they all run to the living room and tried to act innocent. Justin gathers his and Shae’s things together to leave. He just needs to get away from Brian. He says good bye to the family. He buckles up Shae and himself in their seatbelts. As Justin and Shae drive off into the night, he comes to the end of the corner when Shae ask him a question and he turns to look at his son. Shae: “Daddy” Justin: “Yes baby” Shae: “I love you” Before Justin has a chance to reply to his son, and having no time to react, a black navigator comes smashing into his side of the car Justin Screams: “Shae!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” The family suddenly hears a shattering in the usual quiet neighborhood and a loud crashing sound. When they run outside to look where it came from and they hear Justin scream for Shae their hearts stop. Brian runs down the street to see Justin’s side of the car completely caved in and the other car practically sitting on top of it; smoke fills the sky. Suddenly cops, fire trucks and ambulances fill the street while the family stands there watching as they try to get them out. One man went to the back of Justin’s car to check if they could find the little boy and he was surprised to see two green eyes filled with tears Shae: “Help my daddy please” (tears falling) He reaches in to take Shae to the ambulance to check him out and Brian walks over. Ambulance worker: “Who are you?” Brian: “His other father” He nods his head and checks him out. Ten minutes later surprisingly, Shae is fine with just a scratch on the leg. As they pull Justin out of the crumpled car, that no longer has a driver’s side, you can see blood drying on his clothes and he looks so pale, much more than normal. As Brian runs to him he falls to the ground screaming. Brian:“NO NO NO NO GOD!” We, as a family, just stand behind him as they drive Justin off in an ambulance to the hospital. When they got to the hospital they all crowded the waiting room while they waited for any news on Justin. Shae was in Jennifer’s lap crying because he didn’t know what was going on and Kira was in Molly’s. Brian, however, was wearing a hole into the floor. Brian: “I’m going for a smoke” He left the family worrying about him. They knew if Justin didn’t make it Brian would drown. Michael went after him. Michael: “You know he will be okay” Brian laughs acidly: “You don’t know that” Michael: “I do. He is a strong person” Brian: “Mikey if he dies, I don’t know what I will do ” Michael: “You’ll live” Brian: “No, I won’t” Neither spoke another word; there wasn’t much left to say after Brian’s declaration because even though Michael didn’t like it, he knew there was some truth if not completely true. Brian would die without Justin. For some reason, the blond got in and he wasn’t ready to let go. That was when Michael realized all his dreams of him and Brian ever ending up together came crashing down. Eventually,Brian and Michael went inside to see the family all worried and with tears stain drying on their faces. A few hours later Doctor Robson came to the family. Doctor Robson: “You are here for Justin Taylor? The family all stood up Jennifer: “I’m his mother and this is Brian Kinney his partner” Doctor Robson: “Justin is stable and doing well considering the accident. He did lose a lot of a blood, he also suffered a broken leg so we are now placing a cast on it but we had to stabilize him first. I am worried about his head injury, he was unconscious when he was brought in; that is most likely because he hit his head on steering wheel. We won’t know much until he wakes up. Let’s just be grateful that he is stable. I know that is not much but that’s all I can say. I’m sorry” Brian: “No, thank you doctor for everything” Doctor Robson: “You’re welcome. I will let you all see him once he is moved into a room but only for a few minutes. Page me if you need me. ” Present Brian never left his side except to check on the kids. He made a vow to his sunshine he would get him better and fix this. Justin was sitting in his hospital room when Brian walked in the door and he couldn’t keep the smile from his face. Brian: “Are you ready to go?” Justin: “God, yes.” Brian: “Okay I have a surprise for you, are you up for it?” Justin: “Yes! Wait, where are the kids?” Brian: “At school and then with Molly for the night. She thought we needed time alone” Justin: “I love that girl.” Brian leans down to kiss Justin’s plump and inviting lips. He gently runs his tongue over his boy’s bottom lip. Justin can’t help but moan into the kiss and open his mouth inviting the taller man’s tongue. Brian leans up a little so they can catch their breath. Brian: “I love you sunshine” Justin smiles: “I love you too stud.” Brian picks up Justin’s bag and places it on his lap and he starts to wheel him out. Justin: “Why am I in this chair?” Brian: “Because that’s what the doctor said, it’s just until we get to the jeep. Stop being a baby” Justin: “I’m not a baby; I just don’t need the chair” Brian: “Justin, you were in a coma for 4 days and whenever you walk you get dizzy, just humor us please” Justin: “Fine. Where are we going? ” Brian ignores the question as he puts Justin’s bag in the back of the jeep and Justin gets settled in the passenger’s seat. He doesn’t know why, but he feels a little nervous about being in a car again. Brian slides into the seat next to him and places his hand on Justin’s knee. Brian: “It’s okay, I got you.” Justin turns to him and smiles a nervous smile I know. “So, what is my surprise?” Brian: “Don’t you know the meaning of a surprise?” Justin: “Yes, but that doesn’t mean I like them” Brian laughs: “Just relax and if you can fall asleep; we will be there soon Justin: “How far away is it?” Brian: “It’s only 20 minutes from here.” No other words were spoken; each of the men were lost in their thoughts. About fifteen minutes later Brian looks over at his blond to see him fast asleep He can’t believe how close he came to losing Justin. Brian: “Justin wake up” Justin: “Brian where are we?” Brian: “We are close” Justin looked around the surroundings and he could tell they were in a suburban neighborhood and it was enclosed by a big metal gate when Brian slid in a card to gain access to it. Justin: “Brian, what are we doing here?” Brian: (looks at smiling) “You’ll see” They drove for a few more minutes then Brian pulled into a huge brick house with a two car garage on the side of it. Justin: “Who lives here ” *looks at Brian* Brian: “Hopefully us” Justin: “You mean-” Brian: “I almost lost you and I realized that us being apart is completely stupid and even though I am scared, I can’t lose you Justin. ” Justin breaks into a huge smile and kisses Brian lightly on the lips: “Show me the house please” They walk up to the front door and Brian opens the wooden door. As they walk into the foyer they look to the right and walk into a huge living room with a sitting area near one of the windows. Justin looks around the living room. Brian: “What are you thinking” Justin: “How many bedrooms?” Brian: “4 and 2 and a halfbathrooms.” Justin nods his head Brian: “Justin say something; anything” Justin: “How soon can we move in?” Brian: “Are your serious” Justin: “Yes, It’s perfect, there is enough room for all of us and plus I know the covered porch would be great for a studio for me. So answer my question; How soon can we move in? ” Brian: “Whenever we want” Justin: “Did you already buy it?” Brian: “No, but I saw it and I thought it would be perfect for us, I just needed to make sure you did too.” Justin: “I love it.”