First thing the next morning, Justin was up and dressed and at his mother's house before seven a.m. He waited patiently on her couch for her to roll out of bed and head downstairs to start breakfast for his little sister. If anyone could help him locate an affordable place to live it was his mom.

At the sound of her light footsteps, his head shot up. "Wow" Justin said. Jennifer's pregnancy was really starting to show.

"Justin" his mother spoke, clearly surprised to see her son so early in the morning. She hid her swollen stomach with her robe.

"Hi, Mom" Justin replied cheerily. He Followed Jennifer into the kitchen and watched as she put on the coffee. "So, have you found out the sex yet?"

"Last Friday. I called you twice and left a voicemail but you never called me back." Jennifer answered, her eyebrow raised in annoyance at her son for not returning her phone calls. "You’re having a brother."

Justin smiled; it had taken some time for him to accept Jennifer's pregnancy, and look forward to the newest addition to his family. Justin developed a deeper respect for his mother, who had the strength to enter into a new relationship with a young man. He courted her and treated her well. Nevertheless, Justin had been slow to warm up to his mother's relationship with Tucker. Tucker had seemed like a relatively decent man, until he had met someone closer to his own age and immediately fell hard for her. He accepted a prestigious teaching position in New Zealand, cutting all ties to Pittsburg. This left Jennifer shattered and stunned, then totally shocked when she discovered that she was pregnant. Yes, Justin was a little in awe of his mother's strength, as she managed to pull herself together, and was now treating this surprise pregnancy as a mid-life gift.

"That’s awesome" Justin said, looking up from his warm cup of coffee. Jennifer could clearly see that not all was right with her son.
The two blonds sipped their morning coffee as Jennifer waited for Justin to explain why he'd dropped by so early in the morning.
"I need your help finding an affordable place to live. I want to be on my own" Justin said, sitting down at the kitchen table with his coffee.

"What about Brian?" Jennifer asked in shock.

"We broke up" Justin answered slowly, not wanting to explain further had how he had screwed up. There are just some things you don’t want to explain to your mother.

"I'm so sorry " Jennifer supplied, wrapping him into a warm hug. "You're welcome to stay here until we find you something."

"Thank you mom" Justin said, his head downcast.

The next few weeks passed slowly. Justin worked hard at the diner while applying for jobs at higher-end restaurants that paid more, with the potential for better tips. His mom found him a nice, small, one bedroom apartment a few blocks from the college campus.

The day Mike’s Steakhouse offered him a job, Justin turned in his two week notice to Kiki, and asked the kind waitress to keep it quiet.
Justin's last day at the diner, had finally arrived and he wasn't sure if he was relieved or sad. He'd somehow managed to avoid having a conversation with Brian since the Rage party.

The rest of the gang had mixed reactions to their split. Everyone assumed that he was living happily ever after with the fiddler, with whom he'd been seen leaving Babylon on the night of the Rage party. It took everything that Justin had not to snort when he heard the rumors, yet he was unwilling to deny them.

It seemed that Brian hadn't missed him over the past few weeks. This made Justin feel that he wasn't worth fighting for, or even worthy of a backward glance. As his thoughts grew darker, the smile slipped from his face. He watched the gang laughing while waiting for Emmett to join them for a night out. Justin couldn't believe how much his life had changed in the past few weeks, how much he regretted getting sucked into romance. It had cost him everything.

"Hey Sunshine" Emmett's voice broke through the cloud of thoughts currently tormenting him.

"Hey Em" Justin said, placing a smile firmly on his face.

"How are you doing honey?" Emmett asked cautiously. Worry laced his normally happy face as his eyes drifted to where Justin was holding his hurt hand tightly to his chest.

"I'm good Em. My hand's aching - it's been a long day" Justin answered, reassuring his longtime friend. " It looks like the gang is waiting for you" Justin said with an easy smile before taking off his apron and placing it under the counter.

Kiki walked up as soon as he stepped back out of the kitchen after clocking out. "Hey kid."

"Hey Kiki!" Justin said with affection. He was completely surprised when she wrapped her arms around him.

"We sure are going to miss you" she said, wiping a tear off her cheek.

"I'll miss you too" Justin said while taking note that Brian was paying extra special attention to their conversation.

"I kept my promise; I haven't told Debbie yet and that wasn’t easy." Kiki reassured him.

"Thank you" Justin said, a wide grin spreading across his face.

Justin didn't make it five steps outside the diner before a familiar voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Justin" Brian's silky voice stopped his target cold. Concern shot through him as he watched Justin cradle his hand to his chest.

"Brian" Justin's voice sounded much calmer than he felt.

"When are you going to get your stuff from the loft?" Brian questioned. His tone was light, almost uncaring, but his eyes were clearly worried that something was off.

"Oh" Justin said, surprise evident. He hadn't even thought about it. "Soon I guess"

"I have most of it packed, do you just want me to bring it to Ian's?" Brian questioned, prying.

"No need, I'll get it tomorrow" Justin mumbled, his eyes taking in Brian's beautiful form.

"Okay" Brian said holding back a smirk. So everything wasn't happy in Pleasantville. Maybe he still had a shot; he just needed to hold out a little longer.

"Bye Brian" Justin said, before practically fleeing. He wanted nothing more than to turn around and beg the man to forgive him for being an utter fool.