Chapter 191:  He Lied To Me In The Worst Possible Way

            “Rocky-Broom-Hilda-Balboa,” Brian mocked, as he stretched and yawned when he awakened on the couch and Melanie was standing over him holding the remote and about to switch the TV off, and Justin was nestled on top of Brian.

“Justin,” Brian nudged him.

“Huh?” Justin groggily responded because he was more asleep than awake.

“Justin, wake up.  You’re lying on top of me.”

“Huh?  What?”  Justin said, as he opened his eyes and saw it was true.  Brian lay flat on his back and Justin was lying cozily between his ex-husband’s legs.

“Don’t ask me how,” Brian said.  “Last I recall I was sitting at one end of the couch and you other end, so I have no idea how we ended up like this.”

“Don’t believe him, Justin.  We all know that Brian is a classic perv with no integrity, and he took advantage of you, while you slept.”

“That’s just insn’t true, Mel.” Justin softly reprimanded her as he got from between Brian’s thighs and stood to his feet.  “I’m sorry, Brian,” he apologized.  “I don’t recall how we ended up like this either, but since I was the one on top, it’s must be my fault.  So I apologize.”

Brian and Justin had to sought of giggle inside just then when they both thought about when they were a couple, and rarely was Justin ever the one on top.

“Don’t you dare be the one to apologize, Justin!”  Mel kept shooting sparks at Brian, and then went immediately for the execution.  “I’m sure it’s pretty much like I suspected.  It was Brian who took advantage of you.  He simply lay down and pulled you on top of him.”

“Stop it, Mel,” Justin scoffed her.  “I’m sure we both just moved around in our sleep until we ended up like that.  So mind your damn business.”

Brian looked stunned because that was the first time he ever heard Justin snapped at any of the women.

“How long has this been here anywhere?”  Melanie referred to Brian as a thing rather than a person, while trying to humiliate him more by speaking directly with Justin (as if Brian wasn’t inside the room).  “Is that what was at our door last night?  Didn’t I tell you to get rid of it?”

“Hey, I’m right here, Melanie!  And, I’m neither a this, that, what or an it.”

“That’s totally debatable.”

“Mel, STOP IT.  Lift off Brian… will you?”

“You mean like you just did, Justin?  What really happened here last night?  I hope you’re not jeopardizing what you have with Clay for this no-count.”

“We ONLY had popcorn and a movie, Melanie,” Justin scoffed her even more harshly that time.  “Get your head out of the gutter, damn it.”

“Oh, you just make sure Brian doesn’t pull you down in the gutter with him, Justin.  I notice you aren’t wearing your wedding ring right now.  Was it Brian’s idea that you take it off?”

“That’s none of your business either, Melanie.”

“You just make sure you don’t conduct any business with Brian that might cost you Clay.”

“Melanie!”  Brian scoffed her.  “You’re way out of line.  Like Justin said:  All we did here last night was watched a movie and had a little popcorn.”  Brian then stood to his feet, and announced.  “I better go.” 

“AND STAY GONE,” Melanie callously scoffed.

“Brian, you better hang around and see your son Gus before you go,” Justin suggested.  “He’d be terribly hurt to know that you came by, left and didn’t see him first.  In fact, why don’t you go upstairs now and wake him and his little brother, and bring them down for breakfast?”

For some reason though Brian looked hesitant to go and was shooting darts at Melanie, and Justin noticed right away and knew the reason why, and said to him.  “Go ahead, Brian.  I’ll be okay.  I can hold my own against Melanie.”

“Justin…”

“Go ahead, Brian.  Go upstairs and wake the boys for breakfast.”

Reluctantly Brian went and did like his ex-husband instructed him to do

“Hold your own against me, Justin: what is that suppose to mean?”  Melanie asked, the moment Brian was out of hearing range.  “You and I have no beef with each other – Brian’s the one, and you’re just fooling yourself if you don’t think he took advantage of you on that couch.”

“Again that’s none of your business, Mel, and you are jumping to the wrong conclusion anyway.  Yeah, and it’s about time Brian stop being the person who you call habitually THE ONE, Melanie.  When are you going to get over your grudge, and stop hating on Brian?  He never did anything to you.  Fuck!  Lindsay and you wouldn’t even be living in this elaborate twenty room mansion if it wasn’t for Brian, and you wouldn’t have a child to raise either.”

“That’s just it, Justin.  I’m not Gus’s mother, because Brian never signed his parental rights over to me.”

“Did he ever specifically promise you he would?”

“No, but…”

“But what?”

“When Lindsay asked Brian to impregnate her, she made it perfectly clear to him that the two of us would raise Gus, so it was understood that he would sign his parental rights over to me.”

“And, Lindsay and you are doing exactly that – you’re raising Gus right here in this home.  This is where Gus lives, but Brian never promised you that he would sign his parental rights over to you.  I know that for a fact.”

“Sure you do, Justin, and you also know for a FACT that Brian can take Gus away from Lindsay and me any damn time he wishes… can’t he?  You both made that perfectly clear when you took him those three months during your second marriage.  And we only got him back when your grandmother brought him back home to us after Brian had his accident.”

“Brian, only took his son when he did, Melanie, because Lindsay and you were fighting in front of Gus (back then), and I agreed with Brian that that was not a healthy environment for a young boy, and he was only six then.”

“Still, Justin, when it comes right down to it I have no rights where Gus is concerned.”

“You have the RIGHT to LOVE HIM, Melanie.  No one can take that away from you but yourself, which you’d probably end up doing if you keep hating on Brian.  Think about that Melanie.  Gus is getting older.  It won’t be too long before he’s ten.  Eventually he’s going to start noticing how you mistreat his father.  And, he loves the HELL out of Brian.  So, you don’t think he’ll start hating you when he see you hurting his father, like I…”

“Like you what, Justin?”

“Nothing.”

“Oh no.  You were about to say something; and I know exactly what you were going to say:  Gus would hate me like YOU hate me because you LOVE Brian too!  Is that what you were going to say, Justin?”

Justin just incessantly shook his head in disgust at Melanie.

“Shame on you if you were!  I can’t believe you are still in love with Brian after what he did to you!  And, what about your husband Clay?  He’s a thousand times better than Brian.”

“Fuck Clay!”  Justin lost it for a moment and emotionally blurted out.  “He’s not better than Brian, and he’s not my husband… and never was!”

“What?”  Melanie asked.  “Do you mean that figuratively or literally?”

“BOTH damn it!  You noticed my ring gone, Melanie.  Is that enough of a hint for you?  And, the shame lies with Clay – not me; and it definitely doesn’t lie with Brian.  Because regardless of what people say about Brian, you always get whatt you see when it comes to him.  While everyone else is parading around in such deceptive masks, Brian’s soul (unlike the rest of us) always remains totally bare and completely unmasked.  But Clay wore the worst mask of them all.  He did something to me that was worse than anything Brian ever did.”

“What exactly did he do to you?”

“HE LIED TO ME IN THE WORST POSSIBLE WAY!”  Justin’s voice boomed, and it seemed every nerve in his body trembled when he said it. 

“Justin,” Brian walked into the room just then and caught his ex-husband’s very last sentence and he assumed he was talking about him.  “The boys are in the kitchen now, and although I need to get going, I did promise Gus I would stay for breakfast.  So, I’m just going to stick around that long and then I’ll go.  But if you really prefer I NOT stay, I can take Gus out to breakf…”

“Brian, you stay.  You’ve definitely welcome to eat breakfast with us.”

“But umm…”

“Brian, I insist.  You stay for breakfast.  No reason to disappoint Gus.”

“Oh.  You’re right.  I’ll stay for my son’s sake,” Brian said solemnly (figuring Justin didn’t want him to stay on his account any).