E.T. by Katy Perry

Chapter 9- Final Chapter

"There's a lot of land around here," Ben comments absently as they near the destination. They had left the busy roads hours ago and were now driving down barely lit streets that seemed to go on forever.

Ted nods his head, "Justin's friend, Klutawhatever, actually bought a place here with 30 acres of land. It's private property now, so, no prying eyes can call anyone if they see bright lights and whatever else might happen when the ship lands."

Michael shakes his head, "It's still dangerous."

"Life sometimes is," Ted comments with a shrug. He knew he was going to miss his friend, regardless on how irritating and perfect Brian seemed to always be, Ted knew Pittsburgh would be less exciting without Brian around to stir things up.

Michael nods his head, "Anything could go wrong. Anything can happen and instead of wishing the two lovebirds farewell on their extended honeymoon, we could be answering to part of a government cover up."

Frowning, Ted says, ""Um, or they could head to Toprate and live happily ever after."

"Oh, honey, that would be so romantic," Emmett says with a sigh. "I really hope they will be able to keep in touch."

"Oh my God, what am I gonna tell Ma?" Michael asks, worry etched in his face. "She already thinks I've lost my mind!"

Ben takes Michael's hand and suggests, "Why don't we just tell her that there was an issue with Justin's visa, and they had to go back to Denmark for a few months."

"And then when a few months pass? Then what?" Michael demands, "Oh God, I can't believe the girls are going to stay in Australia!" He drops his face into his hands in defeat.

"They might not," Ted muses, "It's very different from Pittsburgh...they might decide to come back when summer ends despite the job offers." He gives Michael a supportive smile.

"And what do I tell them? The same thing? That Brian married some blond twink and they are living in Denmark until his papers are in order...which will be never?" Michael asks as he looks up, crossing his arms again.

"You know what?" Ben cuts in, "That's Brian's problem. We'll say he's in Denmark, and leave it at that. If Brian is able to contact us somehow, then we'll know how to proceed. Until then, that's all we can do."

Emmett smiles, "Ben, you're always the voice of reason. I can see why you're so good for Michael..he'd be a wreck without you."

"Hey!" Michael whines, "I'm sitting right here, you know!"

"We know." Ted says, looking at the clock, "We know."

"Are we there yet?" Emmett asks. Though they had stopped an hour ago, everyone was still feeling restless.

"Yep, it's about a mile down this road," Ted answers, gesturing into the darkness.

"It's...ah, rather...deserted." Ben comments, looking at the road behind them and then in front. "Do you think the others aren't coming?"

"Look!" Michael points to a small plane landing in the distance, covered by the trees up ahead. "I guess some flew."

Pulling into a long driveway, they can see a few more cars parked along the circular driveway and a cab pulling away as well. "This can't be all of them, can it?" Ted asks as they step out of their car.

Ben shrugs, "Perhaps they carpooled. Obviously they couldn't have all been able to purchase vehicles in their short time here." They notice Brian's jeep among the parked cars, and Ben asks, "Should we go into the house or just around the back?"

Michael walks up to the front door and pushes it open. "Hello?"

They can hear voices and laughter from inside and follow the sounds into the kitchen.

Five men and three women are laughing and drinking. They stop and smile, "Hello," one of the ladies greet. "Who are you with?"

Frowning, Michael looks around, "Where's Brian?"

Emmett interjects, "Justin's husband."

One of the men smiles at them and nods, "Juswafexinglayin, yes, Justin... he's out back." Checking his watch, he adds, "The ship will be arriving soon. Only thirty more minutes to go." He gestures to the radio beside them, which has the volume on low, but Michael can hear the soft static sound coming through the speakers.

Ben holds Michael's shoulder, squeezing gently. "Come on, let's go send them off then."

Nodding, they step through the back door and onto the deck. The night sky is filled with stars and below they can see the small jet that had landed and about twenty people walking around with drinks, mingling and laughing.

Underneath one of the torch lights, is Brian, slowly kissing Justin. The two of them look as if they are glowing underneath the lights, and for a moment, the friends just stand there and watch.

"He looks happy," Michael says, more to himself than to anyone else. He looks over at his friends who are smiling in agreement. Sighing, Michael smiles as well. "I'm glad he's happy. He deserves to be happy."

"Then let's go tell him," Ben says, steering his boyfriend down the wooden steps that lead to the large backyard.

"Take good care of him," Michael says to Justin as they walk closer to the couple. The blond stops and turns, smiling at the other man.

"Always, Michael." Justin says, still smiling. "And thank you for your friendship while I was here."

Michael coughs, and looks away, knowing that he probably has not been Mr. Congeniality. "Yeah, well, we may have gotten off on the wrong foot..."

Justin frowns, tilting his head, "Is there something wrong with your foot?" He looks down at Michael's shoes, "Are you in pain?"

Brian smiles, kissing the side of Justin's head. He whispers something, and the blond smiles, nodding. "Figure of speech, got it," Justin says, "Okay."

Pulling out the keys to the jeep, he hands it to Michael, "Here, Mikey, something to remember me by."

"You're giving me your jeep?!" Michael gasps, staring at the keys in his hand. He looks back up at his friend, "Fuck, Brian...I'm never going to see you again, am I?" He doesn't bother trying to hold back the tears.

"We'll keep in touch," Justin answers, "You'll see."

"How?" Emmett asks, "It can't be safe for you to come and go as you please from Toprate to Earth and back again...this isn't a Sandals vacation package." He sighs, pulling Justin into a hug, "I know we haven't had time to be close, but I know that if you had stayed on Earth longer, we would've been best of friends!"

Brian tries not to roll his eyes and instead looks over at Ted. "Theodore. Don't run my agency into the ground. And don't run Babylon into the ground. So fuckin' help me, I'll find a way to kick your ass from Toprate if I find out you fucked up."

Ted holds his hands up in mock surrender, "You can count on me, Boss." Then he smiles, and Brian smiles back. "You take care of yourself, and your alien twink."

Nodding, Brian pulls Justin back into his arms, "You know I will," he says, trying not to look as sad as he feels to be saying goodbye to his friends. "And, someone, take care of the loft. Sell it or one of you live in it, but don't fuckin' rent it...I don't want to hear about some shitty tenant fuckin' up my counters or some shit like that."

Emmett immediately pulls him into a hug, "Goodbye, Brian!"

Quiet for a moment, Brian pats his friend's back, nodding. He feels Justin's palm on his back, and Brian smiles, knowing that as sad as it is to say goodbye, he was also making the right decision for himself. Pulling away, he smiles at Emmett, "Goodbye, Emmett."

Ben surprises Brian by pulling him into a tight hug, "We'll miss you, Brian! This is an amazing and wonderful journey that you are embarking...I'm so happy for you!" His voices catches, and he quickly clears his throat and steps back, allowing Michael to hug Brian once more.

"I'm gonna miss you, Bri," Michael says, unsure if he will have the strength to let go.

"Me too, Mikey.." Brian says, hugging him back. Smiling, he takes a step back and gestures to the others in the backyard, "Come on, this is a party! Go mingle, have fun..." suddenly music begins to blare from one of the open windows and someone comes out wheeling a table full of alcohol.

Justin grins, "Look, Brian! Champagne!" He pulls Brian towards the deck and up the stairs. Brian laughs, commenting, "Maybe we should bring a few bottles for the trip."

The blond nods, "Oh, don't worry, Biatikiki has already learned how it's made and is planning to replicate it back in Toprate...or at least she thinks she can since we don't have grapes, but we do have lalas, which tastes like grapes, so who knows? She is really good at making things: her parents own the Kikitata shops all over Toprate. They sell special cakes and pastries and fancy drinks...it's very popular. Many people buy their treats from a Kikitata shop."

"I don't suppose they have a shop that sells Armani, do they?" Brian asks once they reach the table. He watches as Justin pours the champagne into two glasses.

Smiling, Justin hands a glass to Brian, shaking his head, "No, but I did notice that most of your clothing say Armani on the inside...is that a popular line of clothing?"

Brian nods, "Of course it is, it's Italian."

Justin scrunches his nose, "I wouldn't consider their food to be very popular." Brian laughs, shaking his head and pulling the blond towards him for another kiss. Puilling back, Justin smiles, "We have a lot of clothing companies in Toprate. The most expensive line is called Phash. You seem to prefer expensive things, so maybe you'd like it? The designer is a friend of my family. I'm sure he would love to hear your input if you have any, as he is always traveling around the universe learning about different styles and incorporating those ideas into this own line." Still smiling, Justin hugs Brian close, "I really think you're going to like Toprate."

Brian finds himself smiling to as the thought enters his mind. Of course I will. You'll be there. Refusing to say anything as disgusting as that out loud, Brian decides it's safer to just kiss the blond speechless.

"I can't believe we may never see Brian again," Emmett says thoughtfully as he watches the lovers kissing passionately by the table. Turning to Ted, he asks, "Do you think they'll ever come back?"

Ted shrugs, sipping his drink as he watches the blond and the brunet make out on the deck. "Maybe. It would have to be someplace remote...things fall from the sky more frequently than people realize...it's just that most of the time it falls where no one is around. But I don't really know, Em...it would be dangerous for them to travel back and forth like that."

Ben smiles at the couple and adds his own comment. "I'm really excited for them. Just imagine, starting a new life in a new world with someone you have fallen in love with: It's a story just waiting to be written."

Michael finds himself smiling as well, "Yeah, and we've been able to read the prologue." The comment earns him a kiss on the cheek from his lover, and a pat on the arm from his friends.

Suddenly a bright light suddenly appears above them from the sky and the four men look up in surprise. "Is that it?" Michael asks is awe as the light brightens. He feels himself being pulled backwards by Ben and soon they are standing on the edge of the lawn, watching the massive sized space craft land several feet off the ground, hovering. The ship is oblong-shaped and colored a dark greyish-black. Light sparkles around it, which almost looks like stars. The four surmise that it's a type of camouflage for non-aliens to assume it's just darkness and stars, and not actually a ship. The front of the ship suddenly slides open and a ramp slides down, landing on the manicured grass. There is a light coming from the inside of the ship, and three people step out, standing at the top of the ramp, and wave.

Everyone begins to cheer, and Michael hears the comments from the others that the three people on board are friends of theirs from Toprate who have come to greet them and take them back home.

"This is it," Brian says, suddenly standing beside his friends. He looks over at them with no hesitation in his face. He finds himself smiling at his friends. "Tell Gus I love him...whenever you talk to him..."

"We're going to tell everyone you're in Denmark with Justin over his visa." Michael says and then pulls Brian into a hug. "Keep in touch with us if you can!"

"I will," Brian promises. "I'll find a way...I always do, you know that." He steps back, looking into Michael's eyes before planting a chaste kiss on his lips. "Take care of the professor and take care of yourself, Mikey."

"You too." Michael says, smiling, and feeling only happiness for his friend.

Nodding, he takes one last look at his friends, and then takes Justin's hand in his. The two smile at one another and begin walking towards the ship.

Michael sighs, watching his best friend and his best friend's lover step onto the moving ramp. "He's going to be happy."

Ben smiles, giving his husband a hug, "He already is."

They stand there, watching to see if Brian will turn back around and give them one last wave. But Brian was never one who prolonged goodbyes. So instead, the four friends watch Brian's back enter the the ship, his happy profile, smiling at Justin, and Justin, smiling back at him. And then the ramp slides back inside, and the door slides shuts. The ship seems to disappear within the darkness and then the light suddenly returns from underneath it...and then the ship is gone.

You're from a whole other world
A different dimension
You open my eyes
And I'm ready to go, lead me into the light

ET by Katy Perry