Midnight Whispers
QAF Brian and Justin Fanfiction

Justin's POV

"Are you sure about this?" I asked, worried.

"Everyone will be happy to see you, Justin," Brian told me lightly, keeping his hand around mine.

The gesture gave me enough courage to keep walking down Liberty Avenue towards the diner and stopped me from running back to where he had parked the car. I was still surprised he had gone back to owning a big car—Mercedes G class. I guessed it was for the times he had Gus around, like this time. Though, he'd kept the Corvette; it was in the garage.

We were back in Pittsburgh for two days, but we'd been busy with unpacking my things and exploring every available surface in the house.

He stopped at the front door of Liberty Diner, turning to place his hands on my shoulders. "We don't have to go in if you don't want."

I couldn't help but snort out. "After the lengths you've gone to bring me here? Dragging me out the bed and down the stairs, then strapping me in the car before more or less carrying me down the street?" I took one of his hands from my shoulder and squeezed it. "I'm just worried of their reaction. They're probably upset with me."

"Nonsense. They missed you too."

Sighing, I looked at the door, feeling a churning in my stomach. Over the phone they'd all been nice to me, but what would they think of me being back? And the most important part—Brian and I back together, for good this time.

"If anyone has anything to say against this, which I highly doubt, I promise to put them in their fucking place." Brian grasped my chin in his free hand before planting a loud kiss on my mouth. "Come on, Justin."

I let him walk in first, while I stayed behind him mostly obscured by his winter jacket. Besides a few customers, most of the occupants of the diner were Brian's friends—I wasn't sure if they were still mine—and to my surprise there was Mom with Molly, and that guy she was still dating, Tuck.

"Did you plan this?" I hissed at Brian. It looked like something he'd do.

"No, I swear." He turned to give me his most honest look.

"Look, Gus! Daddy's here!" I heard Linz saying in a loud voice. "And he's brought help. How much are you paying the poor fellow?"

Leaning my forehead against Brian's shoulder blade, I inhaled his cologne for courage. Clearing my throat and stepping away from his back, I revealed myself with my hand still firmly glued to his.

Every mouth opened in shock as they stared at me in disbelief. I really wanted them to say something, do something; instead they just gaped at me.

"Surprise? I brought a souvenir from New York," Brian said jokingly.

"You didn't say you were visiting!" Mom was the first to react.

"You didn't tell me you almost adopted my boyfriend. Now, it's all awkward," I bit back, but tried to keep my voice light.

She had the decency to look guilty, at keeping secrets from me.

"Hey, Justin!" Molly came to me, hugging me tightly. She'd grown so much, she was a teenager now.

"Hi, honey." I hugged her back, one-armed, kissing her head. I still remembered how annoying she used to be when she was little, but now as Mom once told me, she probably needed me considering she couldn't talk to Mom about some stuff. I never believed it when Mom said in some years Molly would come to me, but maybe this was that time.

When we separated, I was dragged into a big hug from Debbie. "Sunshine…You're really back?" she asked, taking my face in her hands.

I nodded, grinning.

That seemed to be all she needed to know because she caught me in a choking hug, mumbling about what an idiot I was. I'd missed Debbie. I'd missed everyone.

Slowly, everyone took a turn at hugging and kissing me. I felt like the main attraction at a circus show.

After Michael hugged me, praising that I finally grew a brain, he went to Brian and whispered something I couldn't hear. Brian chuckled and met my eyes before turning to look at his friend, and shrugged.

I was curious of what that'd been about, but I was pulled into Emmett's arms. "Good to have you back, sweetie! I haven't seen Brian smile like that in ages," he whispered in my ear.

Did everyone have to say something about Brian never being happier? It made me feel like shit because I'd tried, and almost succeeded, at having a life without him, but it seemed he'd been unable to go on without me. Even though I'd missed Brian every day and thought of him constantly, I also achieved my goal—the reason I left in the first place, to have a successful career as an artist.

Mom was the last to hug me. I'd seen her only a handful of times over the past five years, and being back in her arms made me truly realize what an idiot I was. The moment I stepped away from Mom, it felt exactly like before.

Michael, Ben, Ted and Emmett were at a table laughing and talking; Linz and Mel were all over the kids; Mom was pushing Molly to eat, and Debbie was shouting toward the cook to make me fries because she knew how much I loved them.

All my fears of being rejected were silly. They still loved me.

Brian led me to an empty booth, behind the one where the Peterson-Marcus family was sitting. He draped his arm over my shoulders, turning to talk to Linz about last minute notes on how to take care of his son. She kept telling him all of the instructions were on the paper packed with his clothes, and that it wasn't difficult to take care of a young boy for a week.

"But you never left him alone with me more than a few hours," Brian protested, glancing at Gus who was slouched in the corner of their booth, playing on his PSP.

"Oh, stop worrying! You're an amazing father. I'm sure Justin will help," Mel commented.

I turned around, placing my hand on Brian's arm, and scowled at her. "It's not like I know a lot more than him about kids, but we'll manage," I said.

"See? Positive thinking. That's what you need." Linz beamed at us. "Besides, Gus is a big boy now. Right, honey?"

He ignored her, making me laugh. It reminded me of myself when I was his age. It shouldn't be so difficult to take care of him.

"So pretty!" Jenny Rebecca exclaimed. "Are you married like Daddy and Ben?" She pointed to my hand.

I quickly dropped it on my lap and Brian fisted his hand, sharing a panicked look with me. We definitely weren't ready for that kind of attention.

"Who's married?" Debbie appeared at our table with a big portion of French fries. My mouth watered at the smell. She held the plate out of my way. "Who's married?" she repeated, raising an eyebrow.

I became aware of all our friends and family staring at us.

"We're not married," Brian finally said.

"Yet," I added, winking at him.

"The rings are just—"

"—to show the commitment."

"And we were hoping to keep it a secret—"

"—since we're not exactly ready for that. We just got back together," I added.

"Fabulous. Are you going to finish each other's sentences all week?" Gus grumbled, not looking up from his game.

I burst out laughing, remembering how freaked Brian was the last time it happened. I'd been playing around that time, but now I didn't even realize I was doing it. And by the surprised look on his face, he didn't, either.

"I think they're cute," Jenny Rebecca said sweetly. "Just like Daddy and Ben."

Michael started laughing, making everyone join in.

We stayed at the diner for hours. I told our friends most of the important stuff I'd done, I shared with them happy and sad stories, told them how difficult it was to leave Daphne behind, but I knew she was in good hands. In turn, I learned more about their whereabouts—Ted joked about his boss working his ass hard at which we all laughed, and said boss promised to bring a whip at work. That comment moved the conversation to Emmett and one of the parties he had to organize not so long ago; eventually Michael got his turn and mentioned that more and more people were asking about Rage.

"We'll continue it," I promised. "After I see what I have to do for the gallery here, we can brainstorm for a new issue."

"You wrote Rage?" Gus asked, for the first time looking up from his game. There was awe in his voice.

"I drew it. Your uncle wrote it." I gestured to Michael.

"How cool!" Gus said excitedly. "Why didn't you tell me you were dating the author of Rage?" he questioned Brian, frowning.

As my boyfriend opened his mouth to answer, Linz beat him to it.

"How do you know about it?" she demanded.

"He just said so." Gus pointed to me, grinning.

"You know what I mean, Gus. You're too young for that comic book!"

"Oh, don't be a bitch," Brian groaned, lighting himself a cigarette.

"Excuse me?" Linz hissed. "Gus is way too young. I thought we discussed this. We'll allow him to decide who he likes—and by introducing him to Rage…"

"Are you joking?" Brian snapped, narrowing his eyes at her. "A comic book won't make him gay. Besides, Mikey and I were about his age when we first read Captain Astro."

"And look how well they turned out!" Debbie beamed at them, pinching her son's cheek.

I truly hoped my mother would never become like Debbie. As much as I loved her, she was probably suffocating Michael.

Brian and Linz kept arguing until Gus stood up, causing them to instantly shut up. "I found the issues in a box in the attic when I was looking for my old toy car…you know for Jenny?"

"You keep them?" I asked, truly shocked and touched.

"Of course. Despite the nature of them, they're very artistic," Mel said with a smile.

"Can I help you with ideas?"

I looked from Gus's imploring eyes to his parents, and then shrugged. "Sure, kid."

That was definitely the wrong thing to say. It started a verbal diarrhea from Gus all through our remaining time at the diner, on the way home and it continued until we stepped inside the house and he saw Cupcake and Brian's cat—who didn't have a name. He insisted he didn't call her anything, and it was probably too late to name her, she responded to "here, kitty."

"Promise me one thing," Brian whispered in my ear.

"Anything."

"Don't tell him who inspired you to draw Rage or that the other characters are based on real people."

"Sure, but you must know he sees you as a hero already." I looked at him pointedly.

"Justin…he already knows too much about us without even realizing."

"Oh, right. I think I see where Mel and Linz come from; it may be too graphic for him."

He leaned closer, kissing up and down my neck. "Maybe you can send Rage and J.T. on their honeymoon."

"Or…I can start with the moment they come back from the honeymoon and Rage has to take his superhero duties right up…saving the world."

"Hmm…Good ideas, but I bet the long honeymoon will raise suspicions."

"It's their private time." I wrapped my arms around his neck, kissing him deeply.

"Finishing each other's sentences and being all gross—just like my moms. Point me to the TV and you won't even know I'm here." Gus smiled at us innocently, enjoying interrupting our time.

"I have something better than TV." Brian winked and took his son's hand. "I have an entertainment room with a home cinema, many movies and a Wii gaming system."

"Really? Show me! What games?"

They went off toward the stairs. I remembered how perfect Brian looked holding baby Gus, but now as he kept a hand on his older son's shoulder and they talked about games, it made my heart swell. He had no idea how amazing he was.

"I'll heat the food Debbie sent with us!" I called after them highly doubting they heard me.

I had no idea how Brian could think he was a bad father—he was the best. I would bet all my money that he bought the Wii system and games for this week because he knew Gus was going to stay over.

oOo

"So how was your day?" Brian asked as our second day as babysitters came to an end. He'd left early in the morning, and I was woken up some hours later by Gus telling me he was hungry.

"Of course, it took me a while to convince him to wait for me in the kitchen. When he finally picked up on why I was clutching the blanket to my chin, he turned red and left in a hurry. After our rocky start of the day, I asked what he wanted to do; besides staying locked in your entertainment room. I kept prompting him, giving him ideas of fun stuff to do until he exclaimed he wanted to help me work on Rage's comeback."

"That's what you did?" Brian raised an eyebrow, looking incredulous. "For twelve hours?"

"We started around noon so that makes it about ten hours. We even called for take-out food…and it got here an hour later than promised."

He laughed as I pouted. "Yeah, the delivery guys get lost a lot. I have no idea why; it's not difficult to get here."

"Anyway, what about your day?" I started unbuttoning his shirt, slowly peeling it off him.

"I had a day from hell. I'm really starting to wonder if the only reason I had so many and loyal clients in the past is because I used to fuck them in the men's room."

I stopped undressing him, simply staring into his confused hazel eyes. "If that's the reason, they're idiots. You're so smart, and I've seen your advertisements. They're great, Brian."

"Well, Darren doesn't think so. I haven't worked with him in ages, but when he called a while ago, I scheduled him—like I do with all my clients. The first thing he said to me today was 'Now I'm on a waiting list' then he told me about his product." He sighed, shrugging out of his shirt, flinging it across the floor. "I sent him away to have lunch while we put something together. It's the best ad you'll see for headphones, but when he sees it he just smiles and gives me one of these looks…"

"Like, I want to fuck you look?" I guessed, feeling a surge of jealousy fill me.

"Something like that, yes. When the meeting was over, he even said loudly that he was headed to the toilet. I didn't realize what he meant or why he was announcing it to the whole world until I was alone in the office with Cynthia. She gave me a questioning look, asking if I was going to follow Darren or not."

"Did you?" I whispered fearfully. This was Brian after all.

"Yes, but only to tell him either to take the deal or never to come back to me. I also told him I was in a relationship and I loved my partner very much."

My heart swelled. He'd truly changed. "I love you, too."

"So." He smirked, burrowing his face in my neck and peppering kisses between my ear and shoulder. "Who did Rage save this time?"

To tell him or not to tell him?

"It was all Gus's idea," I started in a defensive tone. "And he has no idea you're Rage."

"The suspense is killing me," he said around my nipple.

"He suggested Rage save a baby whose homeless mom had just been murdered by the bad guy."

"I didn't take him for the parental type," he said distracted.

"Me neither, until yesterday when I saw the kid in him playing a Wii bowling game with his son."

Brian stopped kissing me. He looked at me seriously. "Does Rage keep the baby?"

"We stopped brainstorming for ideas when Rage told J.T. he brought home a gift."

"I bet J.T. would love the gift."

"Dunno. I'd like to make J.T. a little angry about Rage bringing home a baby without telling him first."

"You're turning yourself into the bad guy?" He chuckled, tracing a finger along my jaw.

"I'll have to talk to Michael about this."

"Do talk to him. If it was real, I can swear you wouldn't act like that. You'd probably ask how high I was when I decided to get the baby. Or, you'd faint from the shock."

I laughed, hugging him tightly. "Probably the latter."

Chapter End Notes:

This is a fluff HEA, just so everyone knows. As little drama as possible.

If you want something angsty, I posted a new little story Hanging in Limbo (co-written with my friend, ebbj9891)

You must login (register) to review.