Brian was highly aware of the staring and muttered comments that were resonating from his friends (and Ethan‘s) direction as he and Nathan made their way back towards them. The looks on their faces almost made him want to laugh. It was as if they had expected him to re-enter the bar brandishing Nathan’s head on the end of a stick. 

Emmett and Ted looked highly entertained, Debbie a little surprised, Vic looked amused and Michael like he was going to spontaneously combust. The look that interested Brian most however, was on the face of a blond 19 year old. Justin had always been useless at hiding his emotions, that was what Brian both loved and hated most about him. 

Tonight was no exception. At first glance Brian thought he looked confused, which was understandable considering he’d never even heard of Nathan before today. On closer inspection however, he saw hurt - and was that jealousy? - in the boy’s eyes. Huh, interesting. Brian didn’t really know what to do with that right at that moment and didn’t have time to work it out as he was suddenly distracted by Michael barrelling towards him. 

“What the fuck are you still doing here?” He shouted into Nathan’s face. He turned to Brian. “I’m so sorry I told him not to go after you but he wouldn’t listen”
Brian placed what he hoped was a calming hand on Michael’s shoulder.
“It’s ok Mikey, I’m glad he did”
“You are?”
“Yeah it gave us a chance to clear the air” He glanced at Nathan out the corner of his eye and saw the man exhale a large breath. 

He looked back at his best friend and noticed that he now looked even more worried then before. He lent down and breathed against his ear, “Really Mikey everything’s fine. Stop with the mother hen routine” He then kissed him somewhere between his ear and his eye and gave him his most dazzling smile. He felt the smaller man relax a little in his arms. He was glad that at least one of them had bought it. 

“Right how about that drink?” Now he DEFINITELY needed one. 
“Mikey what you having?”
“Um, I’m good for the moment thanks”
“Ok well Deb you seem to have an empty glass and it’s against the law for someone to have an empty glass at any time during their birthday celebrations” Debbie just smiled at him in that way she did that told him she wasn’t buying his bullshit. “Sure thing sweet cheeks”.

“Anyone else?” He looked around at the group gathered in front of him. Emmett and Ted both nodded and Mel and Lindsey both declined. Ethan and Justin didn’t bother doing either, probably assuming they weren’t included in the enquiry. “Ok so cheap round” He was about to walk off then stopped himself. If he was going to put on an act then he might as well go all the way with it.

“What about you? Still on the Beam?”. Nathan, along with almost everyone else was momentarily shocked into silence.
“Erm, Yeah. Thanks” Brian was just about to move towards the bar and his temporary salvation when Nathan spoke again, “I’ll help you”. Brian thought for a moment then nodded slightly and walked off.  


					~	~	~  


She watched as the two men walked awkwardly together to get the drinks. She didn’t buy this sudden best buddies routine for a second. She could still see the pain behind Brian’s (fake) smile. She knew him well enough by now though to have expected something like this to happen. As soon as her nephew had followed him outside she knew there would be some sort of uneasy truce. After the way Brian reacted to his appearance Debbie knew that he would feel vulnerable and like he had exposed too much emotion, and so would go completely the other way. It was a typical Brian Kinney thing to do. Ignore the emotional issue’s and pretend that he didn’t care. He’d done it with Justin and he was doing it again now. 

She suspected that the reason he had done it with Justin stemmed back to what had happened with Nathan all those years ago. It still hurt her to remember back to that time, how much pain Brian had been in and how she had sat with him for hours while he tried to understand what he had done wrong. He was like a little lost child and she had wanted to wrap him up in her arms and take him home with her. She knew that he wouldn’t allow her to do that though and so she had tried as best she could to reassure him that it wasn’t his fault and that someone even better would come along one day and he would forget that Nathan ever existed. 

Brian had had other ideas however and stated there and then that he would never fall in love again, never let anyone get that close, never be hurt. Debbie had assumed that it was just a defence mechanism and that when the right guy came along he would change his mind. Instead he descended further and further into a life of debauchery until he had convinced himself, along with everyone around him, that he really didn’t believe in love. 

Debbie had always remembered the boy Brian once was however, and secretly held out hope that one day he would allow somebody to get close to him again. When Justin had came along, Debbie believed he was the one. Brian definitely loved him, that was clear to see, but he just couldn’t let himself admit it. It was like it had been too long, and the walls he‘d built around his heart too tall, and even though he tried, which Debbie believed he did, even though she never admitted it, he just couldn’t put himself in a position to be hurt again. 

Ironically, it was him trying not to get hurt, which had been the catalyst for his and Justin’s problems and which led to their eventual break-up and the inevitable pain that caused him. There was a time when Debbie had considered telling Justin about Nathan, but she realised that it wouldn’t do any good as it would just give Brian another reason to push him away.

As she looked around her now, she noticed Justin staring dejectedly off towards the bar, she could only imagine what was going through his mind. Next to him Ethan looked almost as miserable. She felt for them both. Boy it was difficult being a surrogate mother to queers, there was always so much drama!