Hey guys! Here's chapter two -- enjoy!
Thanks to Amanda (tathom_93 on qaffanfictionprojects) for the bunny, and to Jess and Lori for beta-ing. =)
Chapter Two
Brian walked into the diner bright and early the next day. He sat in the booth in the back corner that he always occupied. He smiled when Deb appeared with a coffee.
"Mornin' Brian. You want anything else?" she asked. Brian shook his head.
"No thanks, Deb," he said, taking a sip of the hot beverage. She nodded, and walked away. Just then, the bell on the door rang and in walked a tall man who came over and sat across from Brian.
"Morning Brian," he said. Brian took another sip of his coffee, and Deb came back over.
"Hello, Emmett," Brian said, putting his cup back down.
"What can I get for you, honey?" Debbie asked.
"Coffee and a donut, please," he said.
"Coming right up," Deb said, walking away. Emmett glanced at Brian and chuckled.
"Somebody got seriously fucked out last night," he observed. Brian laughed. "So, he was that good?" Emmett asked. Brian nodded.
"He almost wore me out," he said.
"Somebody wore you out? You, Mr. Brian 'I Only Fuck You Once' Kinney?" Emmett asked. Brian glared at him.
"I said almost," he clarified. Emmett smiled.
"Uh-huh," he said. Brian kicked him under the table.
"So where's Theodore this morning?" Brian asked. Emmett shrugged.
"He wanted to go right to the school, he didn't want to stop at the diner," he informed Brian. Brian shrugged.
"Whatever. Come on, hurry the fuck up and eat that, because I want to get going," Brian said. Emmett rolled his eyes.
"You don't have to give me a ride, you know. I can walk," Emmett said. Brian shrugged, standing up and throwing some money down on the table.
"I know," he said, heading for the door. Emmett grabbed his donut and ran out the door, following Brian to his car.
-----
Brian wasn't sure what made him want to go into teaching. It wasn't the kids, because he sure as hell didn't enjoy them enough. It wasn't the pay, because he didn't get paid that much anyway. He sat at his desk, thinking about that when the bell rang, signaling the beginning of the school day. He stood up, writing some stuff on the dry erase board, waiting for his class to file into the classroom. He had Sophomore Computer the first period, and that had to be the most boring class to teach. It was full of 'How to use Microsoft Works' and 'How fast can you type?'. He hated it. Freshman was even worse, but that wasn't until the last two periods of the day.
The second bell signaled the beginning of class. He shut the door and turned to face the class. The announcements came over the PA system.
"Good morning, Ridgemont Academy! Today is Wednesday, October 19, 2005!" came the way too cheery voice of an announcer. Normally it was just students doing the announcements. Brian ignored all the announcements about club meetings, and stupid school business. He smirked when he heard the familiar voice of a friend, though.
"Good morning, students. This is Principal Schmidt here, and I just wanted to congratulate the boy's basketball team on their victory last night. I want you all to go out and support them on Friday night's game against Bratenhal Academy!" Brian laughed out loud at the lack of enthusiasm in Ted's voice.
"Thank you, Principal Schmidt for that. That's all we've got for you guys today. Have a terrific day!" the announcements ended. Brian shook his head, standing up and going back by the board.
"Alright, everyone
open your books to page 26 and get started on the activities that are on that page. If you have any questions, raise your hand, and I'll come to you," Brian instructed, sitting back down at his desk. Yeah, Sophomore Computer was boring as hell, but it was also really easy.
-----
Justin entered the police station and smiled at certain people. He walked all the way back to his office and went inside, sitting down. He couldn't wipe the smile off of his face, no matter what he did. His night with Brian was amazing. He heard a knock on his door and glanced up. Seeing his chief, he smiled.
"Hey, Matt. What's going on?" he asked. Matt McDonald walked into the room.
"Nothing
just wondering where the paperwork for that traffic chase was," McDonald said. Justin opened a drawer and handed him a file.
"There you go," he said, still smiling. McDonald took the file.
"Thanks, Taylor. I appreciate this. With Geraldo out on medical leave, it's hard to find someone who's willing to do the paperwork," he said. Justin nodded.
"Yeah, well there's not much happening with me, so I don't mind," he said. McDonald nodded, turning and leaving the office. Justin shook his head, turning on his computer. He answered a few e-mails and then surfed the net for awhile. He hated when there was nothing to do undercover.
-----
That evening, Brian stood up on the catwalk again. He wouldn't admit it to himself, but he was looking for a blond head. He smiled when Emmett came up to him.
"Hey, Bri! Lookin' for that guy from last night?" Emmett asked him. Brian raised a brow at him.
"What guy?" he asked. Emmett laughed.
"You can't fool me!" he said. Brian shook his head, looking back down at the crowd. "Okay, so, I had this kid come into my office today
he had this crazy looking rash on his lower back. I was like
what the fuck, kid?" Brian laughed. He loved Emmett's nurse stories.
"Well, did you figure out what it was?" Brian asked. Emmett shook his head.
"Are you kidding me? What if it was contagious? Fuck that shit. I sent the kid home," Emmett laughed. Brian laughed as well, shaking his head. He still couldn't believe that he, Emmett, and Ted all ended up working at the same school.
"Way to show compassion, Em," Brian teased. Emmett flicked him off.
"So, am I ever going to meet this mystery man?" Emmett asked, raising a brow. Brian shrugged.
"I don't know who you're talking about," Brian said, staring at Justin who just appeared out of the crowd. Emmett smirked.
"I'm talking about that blond that you're eating up with your eyes," he said. Brian pushed him and headed down to the dance floor. He saw Justin dancing with a hot guy, and contemplated cutting in, but changed his mind and shook his head, leaving the club.
Justin saw Brian and smiled. He said bye to the guy he was dancing with and headed to where Brian was. He was about to call out to him, when he saw him shake his head and leave. Frowning, Justin glanced around the club and decided to leave as well.
-----
Friday night, Brian sat at his loft alone. He didn't feel like going to Babylon, because he kept seeing Justin and kept being tempted to break his own rule. So he opted for a quiet night alone in his loft. The buzzer rang and Brian got up to let the takeout guy in. He was surprised when he pulled open the door to see his friend Michael.
"Mikey! Hey, what are you doing here?" Brian asked, moving aside to let his friend in. Michael shrugged.
"Ben had a lecture to write, and papers to grade, so I decided I'd go out. I thought you'd be at Babylon
I'm lucky I caught you!" Michael said. Brian shook his head.
"I'm not going to Babylon tonight, Mikey. Tonight's my night off from clubbing," Brian smiled. Michael laughed.
"Night off from clubbing? Since when do you take a night off from clubbing?" he asked. Brian shrugged.
"Since I don't really feel like going out tonight," he said. He heard the buzzer again. "You're just in time for some Thai
in the mood?" he asked. Michael shrugged.
"I'll grab some plates out of the kitchen," he offered. Brian went to the door to pay the delivery guy and then carried the bags of food into the living room, sitting down on the floor. Michael came into the living room carrying two plates, two beers, and a piece of paper. He set the plates and beers down on the table and held up the paper. "What's this?" he asked. Brian glanced up.
"I don't know, what is it?" Brian asked. Michael looked at the paper and read off of it.
"Brian, thanks for the great night. I didn't want there to be any weirdness when we woke up, so I just left. Maybe I'll see you around. Justin," Michael paused, looking up at him. "Who's Justin, and since when do you let tricks spend the night?" Michael asked. Brian shrugged.
"Just some trick. I fucked him so hard he almost passed out, and I felt bad for him, so I let him stay," Brian shrugged again. Michael raised an eyebrow. "Besides, what does it matter to you, anyway?" Brian asked. Michael shrugged, crumpling up the paper and throwing it on the ground.
"I was just curious," he said. Brian rolled his eyes, opening the bags of food and putting a mixture of different stuff on his plate.
"Well, curiosity killed the cat," he said. Michael looked at him for a second, and then they both burst out laughing.
-----
Saturday morning, Brian wakes up when he hears an annoying ringing that won't stop. He groans, rolling over in his bed and grabbing the ringing phone.
"What?" he growls to the unfortunate caller.
"Brian? It's Ted. Turn on the news, now," Ted ordered.
"What? Fuck you, Theodore
I was sleeping!" Brian whined.
"Get your ass out of bed and turn on the news, now!" Ted repeated. Brian groaned, getting out of bed and going down the stairs into the living room, grabbing the remote and flicking on the television.
"What exactly am I supposed to be looking for?" Brian asked as the picture came to focus in his brain.
"One of our students, one of the seniors," Ted said. Brian rolled his eyes.
"You got me out of bed because one of the students is on the news? Asshole!" Brian was about to hang up when the news anchor began talking again.
"This is it, Brian! Watch!" Ted said. Brian rolled his eyes, and turned the volume up.
"Now, for a recap of our top story this morning. The body of an 18-year old Ridgemont Academy student was found behind the school this morning. Police have no suspects at this time, and they're not releasing any names. In other news
" Brian stopped listening.
"Brian? Brian? Brian!" Brian heard Ted calling him from the phone that was now at his side. He raised the phone to his ear.
"Holy fuck," he said softly.
"I know, I couldn't believe it when I heard," Ted said.
"Do you know what student it was?" Brian asked.
"No, the police aren't releasing names yet."
"Jesus Christ. Well, keep me updated, okay?"
"Will do. Bye, Brian." Ted hung up. Brian shook his head, turning off the television and going to make some coffee.
-----
Justin groaned when he heard his cell ringing on Saturday morning. A hand reached out from underneath the comforter and grabbed it, flipping it open.
"Taylor," he said in a sleepy voice.
"Taylor, it's McDonald. We have a job for you," came the voice of his chief. A little more awake now, Justin sat up.
"A job? What kind of job?" he asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
"A boy was murdered at a local high school. We need you to find out who the murderer was," the chief said.
"How am I supposed to do that?" Justin asked.
"Well, Taylor, how do you feel about going back to high school?"
End Chapter Two
10-20-05