Midnight Whispers
QAF Brian and Justin Fanfiction
Author's Chapter Notes:

This one follows up on the previous on timeline wise.

Warning: a little angsty...okay, a lot angsty, but it has it peaks.

I arrived home early, ready to give Justin the best news and hopefully have time for a round or two of celebrating.

He was in the living room, brushing the dog's fur on the multi-zeros dollar Persian carpet in front of the fireplace.

"Can't you do that shit outside?" I asked from the doorway.

He ignored me, continuing to meticulously take excess of fur and put it on a folded out newspaper I hadn't seen before, but still. The dog kept shaking and I could see fur flying in every direction.

I decided to tease him, unsure if I was truly upset he was ruining the carpet or amused he decided to do it inside the house, when he'd always brushed Sloth outside.

"What would my husband say about the mess?" I joked, approaching slowly.

Justin shot me a hard look, pointing the brush at me. "Stay right the fuck where you are."

"What's up?"

"What's up? Your cell is shut down. I called you at work to ask if you wanted to come to the vet with me, but Cynthia told me you didn't even go to work. Imagine how beautiful I felt."

"Justin, I told you I had this meeting today."

"At Kinnetik, I thought! Not in fucking Philadelphia! Thanks a bunch for keeping me up to date with everything. Do you have any idea how stupid I felt? I had to brush it off when Cynthia asked concerned if I didn't know. I told her it must have slipped my mind, because you know I'm the busy housewife, while you're the big bad man of the house who brings the dough."

"Are you done?" I raised an eyebrow, exasperated. I never thought we'd fight about this silly little thing. I'd especially been evasive, because I wanted it to be a surprise.

"Not in the least, but it seems you don't give a fuck about how I feel. Same old, same old."

"Would you stop acting like a twat? If I knew you were taking Sloth to the vet, I'd have come earlier." That dog was like a scared mouse every time we took him to the vet and got very agitated.

"I bet," Justin muttered. "I had to literally fight him into the car, then drag him out when we got to the cabinet downtown. I forgot to strap him, not like I could at how crazy he was acting...he nearly bit me." Justin hugged the dog closed as if he was talking about what a docile animal he was. "Anyway, we might need to change the backseat for the Jeep."

"WHAT? He clawed at the leather? You fucking animal!" I stomped my foot, glaring at the dog. "Get out of my sight before I murder you."

"Brian, I bet you'd get destructive too if you were scared and headed to your greatest fear. On the way back he was sleepy, thank God."

"Why did you take him to the vet, anyway?"

"Haven't you noticed anything odd with him? He barely reacts until the person talking to him is right in front of him, and he hasn't eaten properly in days."

"Oh." I narrowed my eyes at the dog. He eyed me with cloudy black eyes. The more I looked at him, I noticed the white whiskers, the sad look about him. "Shit. What's wrong with him?"

"He's got bad sight and bad hearing, but that's normal at his age. Though..."

"Great. He's dying. I won't be present when you tell the kids."

"Can you not be an ass for one second of the day?"

"I'm stating a fact. They'd be devastated. Especially Patrick. He has the dog since he was what? Four? Five?"

"And we didn't get him as a puppy. He was already two years old by then...which makes him fifteen years old. Do you have any idea how much that is in dog years?"

"No fucking clue, but I know you'll tell me in about a minute."

"One hundred and five! Oh, you interrupted me before I could tell you what's wrong with him. He's not dying. He'd just depressed. I've got him pills."

"Depressed?" I scowled at the animal. "How the fuck can he be depressed when all we do is coddle him the whole day? Patrick spends every waking moment with him. It's his way to make us pump useless money into his old ass."

"Would you stop acting like this? I know you never liked him—"

"I never wanted the dog!"

"But I saw you petting him and being nice to him."

"What did you expect me to do? Kick him around? He's alright, I guess. Most of time...unless he destroys my car."

"Our car," Justin said gently.

Unlike other times when such sweet nothings got me smiling, his words didn't have any effect on my sour mood.

"You just managed to ruin my happy mood. I came early with great news," I muttered.

"I bet." He snorted. "You're in a peachy mood."

"You put me into this peachy mood! Brushing the dog in the house! Letting him destroy my car! Getting him useless depression pills. For fuck's sake! Don't look at me like that, Justin."

"I don't care if you don't give a shit about Sloth, but the rest of the family loves him. We want him well. Imagine how the kids would react when we tell them."

"They'd kiss his ass even more."

Justin sat up, brushing fur off his pants. On the Persian carpet.

"Watch out, will you? That carpet costs a fortune to be cleaned."

"Don't sound like you care about it, please. I'm the one who cleans it or takes it to the cleaners. I'm the one who cleans the whole fucking house!"

"Not one of your little housewife laments again." I groaned.

"But it's true!" Justin shouted. "It's like I said earlier. If it wasn't for going to the gallery or one of my shows outside the city, I'd be the epitome of housewife! You don't do anything in this house, Brian! You even stopped helping the kids with their homework!"

"They're old enough to do it on their own. If they have trouble with something, they ask. And I help them. Just last night, I helped Peanut with her English essay. She had to write about—"

"I know," Justin snapped. "She had to write about her idol. It must have stroked your ego real nice when she decided to write about you!"

I decided to placate this fight before it could escalate to stuff thrown around. "So my meeting went really well. I nailed it." I beamed.

"Just like in the good ol' days, huh?"

"I got the deal," I explained, rolling my eyes. I was actually hurt he thought so little of me. "We're monogamous, aren't we? I thought that was—"

"I don't know anything anymore!" Justin threw the brush to the floor with all his might. Tears pooled into his eyes, making my heart drop.

"Justin," I whispered, taking a tentative step closer.

"Am I asking for too much, Brian? I never imagined living together would be easy. Fuck, we're both too temperamental and shit, but this is too much. I really hate it when I'm judged about not having you help me with the house, and how some people say that you're all about work and have to relax when you get back, but then others say that you have to help me. A-and... as much as I appreciate Munchkin or Peanut offering to do the dishes or clean around their rooms...it's not what I want."

"Christ." I hugged him tightly when he started sobbing. "Why didn't you tell me? And don't say I don't help. I do, and you know it."

"Not as much as you used to."

"Well, I guess my news will cheer you up. I got something wonderful out of my deal with my latest client. We're leaving in two weeks."

He stared at me confused with teary blue eyes.

"Only the two of us. Bahamas. Three weeks. Bliss."

Justin wrenched himself from my arms. "What? Are you out of your mind? I can't leave! Molly is ready to pop any day now. She wants me around for the big day...and I want to be there too. My show is coming in two weeks! I still have one painting to finish. Do you think a lot before taking such decisions?"

I wasn't expecting him to decline the invitation. "Well, I'm still going. It's related to work, so I have to be there."

"How beautiful," Justin said overly sweetly, before taking a step closer and pushing against my shoulder. "You complete asshole!"

"Why am I an asshole? I came home with this holiday proposition and you declined it."

"You didn't think of how many things are going on right now. And, oh genius, what about our children? Where do they come into this complicated scheme of yours?"

"They're old enough to be on their own for a few weeks, besides Keith and Leo are a few minutes away. We could have asked Debbie to come stay here while we were gone."

"Old enough to live on their own?" Justin thundered. "At thirteen and eighteen? Are you fucking kidding me?"

"I lived on my own more or less and got my back since I was smart enough to not give a shit about what happened at home. That was since I was about thirteen-fourteen."

"Well, their environment at home is different than yours was. Heck, than mine was. We both love them and we don't want them on their own from such a young age! I was forced to be on my own at seventeen. Do you think I liked it?"

"I remember you enjoying it very much." I smirked.

"I was stuck with the most gorgeous guy, of coursed I loved it. But at the same time, you weren't much more mature than me."

"Yeah, well." I shrugged.

"My point is...we can't leave them alone. They're too young. And this conversation is irrelevant. I'm not going anywhere. I want to be here when my sister has her first child. I want to be here to finish my painting...and not rush it. I have to be here for my show!"

"I'm still going," I repeated.

"I already heard that. But isn't that something you always do? You always do what you want without caring about the consequences of your actions. Like back when you promised to take me to Vermont...then you went to Chicago."

"I took you to Vermont."

"Yeah, a hundred years later."

We glared at each other for a long time, before Justin groaned, exasperated.

"You know what? Knock yourself out. Go to Bahamas. We need a break. I'm not sure if I could live like this much more."

"What the fuck?" I yelled. "What did you just say? We need a break?"

"Yes!" He spat into my face. He was so close, I could see his dilated irises, the storm behind his blue eyes. "Go to fucking Bahamas! Maybe when you come back we'll change some things."

"Like what?"

"Like the way you're treating me!"

I glared. "I fucking worship the ground you walk on, Justin! I thought you knew that! I thought I didn't have to say the words every fucking day for you to know how much I love you!"

"You have a funny way at showing it lately!"

"Tell me what the fuck you want!"

"I don't know! Maybe it will be nice of you to take me out every once in a while. Or surprise me with a late snack in bed. Or breakfast in bed. Or when we're blissfully alone...to simply tear my clothes off like back in the day. I don't care what you do, but show me you still feel something. Sure, you can be a total sweetheart in the morning when we have the coffee in the kitchen, but the kids are usually there, though it's the times like when we're alone that make me question everything!"

"You're a twat."

"Of course. That's you eternal comeback."

"If you must know, I was planning to tell you the good news, and when you were jumping of happiness about our upcoming trip, I thought we'd fuck without being worried about the kids. But silly little me."

"Well, I'm not jumping of happiness."

"Fine."

"Fine."

I glared, hating when he repeated that word. "Fine," I said again. "I'm leaving first thing in the morning."

"I thought you said in two weeks."

"It was for you...to give you time to tie all the loose ends, but as you don't care... I'm leaving in the morning. We're going to change some things when I come back."

"Now who's running away from their problems, Brian?"

"I'm not running away. You said we needed a break!"

"Fine! Don't be surprised if I change the locks by the time you come back."

A sob that didn't come from either of us distracted us from the fight.

Fuck.

The kids were in the foyer, gaping at us with horror in their eyes.

How much have they heard?

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

"Holy shit," Justin whispered.

Peanut ran into my arms, crying her little heart out, while Munchkin rushed up the stairs and slammed the door of his room shut.

"Are you breaking up? Don't break up! You're the best daddies in the whole world!" Ruby clung to me, soaking my shirt in tears.

Justin came closer, stroking her hair, chewing on his lower lip. It was a clear sign of how upset he was if he wasn't even trying to say comfort words to our daughter.

I cleared my throat, peeling Ruby off me, then brushing her tears away. "Look, sweetie, go to your brother and wait there for us. We have something to talk about and we'll join you."

"But don't break up!"

"No, Peanut. We won't," Justin said solemnly. "You know how we fight over every shit."

"I hope so." She made to leave, but turned to us and kissed our cheeks. "Sloth, come here, boy." She patted her thigh, and the dog got up from his spot on the carpet, shook off the excess of combed fur, before trotting to her.

I bit my tongue so hard I was tasting blood.

"Fuck." Justin's breath hitched as he slumped on the sofa after Ruby and Sloth had disappeared up the stairs. He placed his hands over his face, and I had no idea if he was simply upset about the situation or crying.

"We have to explain to them what we were talking about," I said, pacing behind the sofa.

"We weren't talking, Brian. We were yelling at each other like two cavemen. You used the words 'I'm leaving', what the fuck do you want them to believe? We've never been at each other's throats like this. Not with them in close vicinity."

"Excuse me, Sunshine. You were the one who said we needed a break! You were the one threatening to change the fucking locks!"

"You never think about me! That's why we were fighting in the first place!" He stood up, whirling around to face me with a fire blazing in his eyes. "If you spent a minute per day considering my desires, maybe we wouldn't have had this fight to begin with!"

"Would you stop being delusional? I always think of you! I actually told you two weeks before we leave so you'd be done with everything. I have a feeling Molly is going to give birth around the end of this week, and I sincerely thought you were done painting. You don't really have to be there for the show, maybe only on the first night. I thought of everything, so don't accuse me of not thinking of you."

His mouth dropped, before he grabbed the magazine we'd left on the sofa, rolled it up, before smacking my arm repetitively. "You're so fucking infuriating!"

"Can't come up with anything else, uh? No other under the belt remark?" I sneered.

"I wish one of these days you'll understand that I need you to talk! Actual communication before you do something."

"I wasn't sure what would come out from this meeting. I believe I mentioned I had an upcoming outside the office meeting, though."

"Here in the Pitts...I thought. A little heads up next time, okay? You can simply say 'I won't be in the office today, don't try contacting me.' I'll understand. I'm not mentally challenged. And you know I always respect whatever boundary you make."

"Okay, okay. I'll tell you every time I'm leaving the office. I'll call from a stranger's phone to let you know my battery died. And I won't try to surprise you again."

"That's not what I meant!" Justin raised his hand to smack my bicep again, but before the magazine could make contact with my skin, it fell from his hand.

I knew exactly what happened and I didn't wait for him to say anything. I seized his right hand, rubbing his palm with my thumb, as his face turned into a grimace of pain.

We stared at each other while I relaxed the tendons in his hand. A small smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, before a giggle erupted from him. He pressed his forehead to my shoulder, his shoulders shaking in laughter.

"Have you gone crazy?" I questioned, concerned.

"We're fucking nuts, Brian."

"Speak for yourself. I'm still my fabulous self. And can we avoid the nuts discussion?"

Justin peeked at me amused, slowly extracting his hand from mine, before wrapping it into my hair. I could feel it still shaking. "I love your fabulous one nut self, even though sometimes I'm moments away from throwing you out the window."

I took his face in my hands, moving up until I had my fingers tangled in his blond locks, before I leaned closer, nudging his nose. "This is a moment I wish we were alone. Fighting with you gets me so fucking horny."

His eyes twinkled. "I have an idea. Come with me." He pulled me up the stairs.

I stalled him before he could open Patrick's door. "We're good, right?"

"I want you to fuck me seven different ways until I pass out. You're more than forgiven."

The door opened before we could touch the knob. Patrick scowled.

"Why do we even bother to worry when you two fight? It's always like this. Especially since I got my license."

"So you'd go get some Thai?" I asked, grinning.

"From Thailand. I don't plan on being home any time soon. Give us a call when you're done making up. Come on, Rubs."

"We have such a wonderful son, so understanding of his dads' needs," Justin praised.

"I don't plan on being any more traumatized than I already am!"

Ruby came out of his room shyly, eyeing us curiously.

"We're good, Peanut," I told her, opening my arms. She snuggled there, sighing in relief.

Justin decided to join our moment by wrapping his arms around both of us.

I caught Patrick's eye, and he took a step back, warning me to involve him in the group hug. I grabbed the hem of his shirt, pulling him closer.

"You love our hugs. Get here." I squeezed him into my side.

"So why did you fight now?" He asked, keeping his head tucked under my chin.

"It was silly." Justin chuckled.

"It started with your dada brushing the dog's fur on the Persian carpet," I explained.

"Then continued with your dad making decisions without my approval."

"It's called a surprise, Justin."

"Well, I don't like surprises."

"Since when?"

The kids disentangled from the hug. "We'll go before you start again." Patrick pushed Ruby toward the stairs. "Is an hour enough?"

My face must have betrayed my masked horror, because Patrick sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Call us with half an hour before you want us home. That should be enough time to clean up whatever...evidence...that could traumatize us."

Justin turned red, becoming interested in the way his socked feet looked.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said innocently. "It's five now." I looked at my watch, knowing we needed a lot of time to make up. It had been days since I had my fill of Justin; not like I'd ever have my fill. "Say, around nine?"

"Brian!" Justin protested weakly.

"What, Sunshine?" I grinned.

"We're out of here."

"Don't you want money?"

"I took your card."

"What?" I narrowed my eyes at Patrick.

"This morning. I kept telling you I needed gas for like, a week."

"No wonder I couldn't find it when I needed it. Luckily the guy at the restaurant I took my client knew me and accepted the check."

"I'm sorry," Patrick mumbled.

"You have so much in common with your dada, it's freaky. Now go! Keep your phones close in case we call."

"Yeah, yeah. Have fun."

"Oh, we will." I winked, making him turn green.

Justin and I stood in the first floor's hallway until we heard the car pulling out of the garage, then we turned to face each other and it was like we hadn't seen each other in years. Fuck, I missed this frenzy.

We left a trail of clothes behind us on our way to the bedroom.

I threw Justin on the bed and he giggled, scooting up and opening his legs. I dived between them, hooking them on my shoulders, before performing a rimming like I hadn't in years. He thrashed around, moaning and tugging at my hair, a variety of colorful words escaping his mouth as I brought him closer to the edge. Then I stopped.

"Don't stop," he gasped out. "Why did you stop?" He whined, reaching for me when I pulled back on my hunched to admire his rose puckered hole, fluttering, coated in my saliva.

"I want to try something, but you must stop me if it hurts."

"What?" His lust filled, dilated eyes stared at me intensely.

"For what I have in mind, we need to try one of your favorite position." I moved to straddle his face. "Suck me. Get me real wet, but don't make me come."

The twat went for my ass, but I scooted further up until my cock what at his mouth. "Suck." I shivered at the first contact of his mouth with my cock, but returned my focus on his ass.

I had to stretch him real good for my idea. We had never tried it without lube.

I pushed two fingers into his mouth and he sucked on them greedily, before I returned my attention to his ass. Justin moaned around my dick, as he lifted his ass when I pushed a finger into his hole. I kept teasing him while loosening his muscles until I knew if I carried on, he'd shoot, and that wasn't what I wanted. Not yet.

"Noooo!" He whined when I shifted away.

Truth to be told, I was close to coming too, but he didn't have to know that.

"Yes. Fuck me." Justin grinned when he saw me positioning between his legs.

I placed one of his legs on my shoulder and one curled around my waist. I tugged at my dick for a few moments, coating it in precum to make the slide easier, before slowly I started pushing into him.

He tensed all over and I knew it hurt, but I trusted him to stop me if it got to be too much. I knew Justin got off on a little pain. Our likings in the sex department were very similar, which kept us sane considering sex was the first thing that brought us together.

Justin's toes kept curling and I could feel his calf muscles spasming, his eyes were scrunched shut and his hands were fisting the sheet at his side and the pillow above his head.

"I'll stop." I made to pull away, but Justin dug his heel into my ass making me slide into him to the hilt.

The movement made him hiss and his ass to clench around me.

"Christ, do you ever listen? Did I hurt you?" I leaned closer to kiss him. "Tell me."

His eyes opened and I'd never seen such raw lust in them. "Fuck me. You have no idea how good it feels."

I had a pretty good idea since the most primal needs rose within me. I held his leg up, and after kissing his ankle, I started moving. He threw his head back, shouting my name.

We were both too turned on and the animalistic feeling of being so close to him, of actually fucking raw without anything but spit and precum between us. When his back arched off the bed and his toes curled, I knew he was right there, especially by the frantic way he was tugging at his dick, groaning.

His ass clenched around my cock and it was all it took me to shoot. Justin's eyes rolled back as he milked his dick, coating his chest and stomach in his own cum.

I pulled out, extracting a displeased sound from him, before falling next to him. "That was some fuck."

"Hottest fuck ever," he declared.

I kept my eyes closed as I settled my heart and breathing, so when something wet and sticky touched my lips, I jerked, opening my eyes. Justin was hovering over me, taking cum off his chest and smearing it over my lips, with a huge smile on his face.

I licked my lips, making his smile widen. "Come here," I whispered.

He didn't need to be told twice, snuggling into my side and pressing his mouth to mine. After kissing for endless minutes, I pulled away for much needed air.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, not sure if it was wise to bring up our fight at the moment.

"You don't play fair. Of course I'll forgive you after that fucking."

"I thought you already forgave me before we got to the fucking. I'm only apologizing for what an ass I've been lately."

"Are you really leaving tomorrow?" He asked after a few quiet minutes.

"I really have to make this trip. Why? Change your mind?"

"Let me see what I can do. I'd love to come away with you, escape for a week or so."

"What about the kids, dear?"

He smacked my chest, laughing. "I guess you're right. We'll figure out the best plan for them, but we won't leave them alone here."

"No, we won't. It was stupid of me to say that, though they could do it."

"But I'll be worried all the time we're there."

I nodded, rubbing his shoulder. "We can ask the munchers. They only have JR living with them now, and she's at Ben and Mikey's most of the time anyway. It will be like a vacation for the kids too."

"Sounds great. If they can't, I bet Keith and Leo won't mind. That way all the kids will go together to school."

"Or that." I nodded.

"I'm hungry," Justin declared, jumping out of the bed.

"You want to call Patrick already?" I might have pouted, but I wished for more time alone.

"I was thinking of a snack. Coming?" He asked from the doorway.

"How about staying? Come back here."

"If you'd move your ass out of the bed, your little wish about fucking somewhere else other than the bed might come true," he teased, sashaying his naked ass out of the room.

"Love is when you walk around the house naked without worrying about being seen by the kids," I joked, following him.

Justin threw me an amused look over his shoulder. "I don't know about that, but I can feel your love seed running down my leg."

I laughed, grabbing his pair of boxers off the floor and cleaning him. "You must admit, you love having my love seed, as you so wisely put it, running down your leg."

"I admit nothing."

Our snack in the kitchen turned out to be another round of fucking against the counter and one on the table, which resulted into a mini freak-out from Justin.

"We eat here!" He rushed to disinfect the table, while I poured myself a shot of whiskey and stared at him.

"And this is why we don't fuck outside the bedroom anymore," I pointed out.

He whacked my arm with the cloth he was wiping the table. "You promised to help me, I think."

"I never said when I was going to start helping."

"Now." He pushed the cloth and the spray in my hands. "Finish cleaning the table then the counter. I'm going to pick our clothes from the hallway."

After downing my glass, I accepted my housework duties. I had to admit that Justin was right about it not being hygienic to fuck in the kitchen, but we hadn't had such great sex in years.

When I was done, I went in search of him and found him in our bathroom, sorting through the clothes in the hamper.

"Brian." His warning of not indulging me in another round went out the window, when I backed him into the shower.

Obediently, he turned around, handing me the soap.

"Good boy," I whispered, nibbling on his ear as I pushed two soapy fingers into his ass.

"Ah!"

"Yes. I know. You're a greedy little boy."

"Just fuck me," he whimpered.

I swatted his ass, leaving my palm imprinted on his plump cheek. I heard a loud groan of pleasure from him.

After three rounds of fucking, one would have thought I had enough, but there was no such thing as enough when it came to Justin and his glorious ass.

He threw his head back, arching his neck when I pushed into him. His lust-hooded eyes met mine, and I leaned closer, kissing him softly. He managed to half twist in my arms so he could hug me and have better access at my mouth, while still staying connected with me.

I moved slowly, which was a rare occurrence in the shower.

Our shower sex was reduced to five minutes fucking sessions very early in the morning or very late at night. It was a nice change to have time to savor him in the shower.

Later, while I dried my hair, Justin kept pacing between the closet in our room and the lotions cabinet in the bathroom, with the phone to his ear.

"They're not picking up," he muttered. "You try."

I rolled my eyes. "Did you check if they left us any voicemail or message?"

"Nothing." He uncapped the moisturizing cream, handing me the phone.

"Nice. Calling from my phone."

"I have only twenty percent battery and..."

"You can't find your charger," I finished for him. "Maybe you should tie it around your neck."

"Instead of picking another fight with me about how careless I am with my things, do something productive and call the kids! It's almost ten pm!"

I dialed Ruby's number first, knowing she always answered me. Five rings later and no answer. I hung up and pressed Patrick's name, trying not to get worried. No answer. To make it worse, his phone kept going to voicemail after one ring.

"Where the fuck are you? Get your asses home," I snapped, knowing it was stupid to scream at a machine, but I hoped that by some miracle they'd listen to my angry message.

"Any clue of where they went?" I asked, leaning against the bathroom's doorframe.

"How would I know? And DON'T call anyone else. No need to get the whole family worried."

I marched into Patrick's room, searching for clues of where they could be.

"That's invading his privacy, Brian!" Justin scolded me as I pushed around through the clutter on his desk.

"Like fuck I care! It's curfew time and they're not home!"

"But you can't look through his stuff. I hated when my mom did that!"

I glared at him. "What if something happened? I'd like to know what ditch to collect them from."

"I bet they're at the mall. Or maybe they went to meet Patrick's friends."

"Ruby would love that," I said as sarcastically as possible. "Trust me. I was dragged placed by Claire and I hated it."

"Stop comparing them with your relationship with Claire...or mine with Molly. They actually get along really well."

"Gotcha!" I found a flyer, but was disappointed to notice it was only Patrick's book club flyer.

"Maybe they went to the movies."

"They've been gone for five hours, Justin." I dialed Patrick's number again, gritting my teeth when his cheery voice told me he couldn't talk at the moment but to leave him a message.

By ten thirty Justin joined me in the quest of trying to find a clue of their whereabouts.

I was in the middle of calling them again when I heard the front door slamming shut.

Justin grabbed my elbow. "No screaming, please. Let them explain themselves."

"We're home! Guys? Is it safe?" Patrick's voice floated upstairs.

I stomped down the stairs with Justin hot on my heels.

"There you are!" He grinned, holding a large bag. "One Som Tum for you Dad and Pad Krapow Moo Saap for Dada."

"Did you actually go to fucking Thailand to bring the food?" I shouted, stopping a few inches away from him.

He blanched, chewing on his lip. "Okay, so we're a little late."

"A little! Try a fucking lot, Patrick! Your curfew is ten, but no longer. You're fucking grounded. For life."

"Dad..."

I snatched the bag from his hand, heading into the kitchen.

"You should have called us when you couldn't make it on time," Justin said softly, like always trying to clean after me.

"We bumped into Kyle at the mall and Rubs wanted to see some stupid movie that lasted three hours."

"Sure, blame me," I heard her whining.

"I'm grounded because of you!"

"You're grounded because it took you half an hour to get to the point and invite Kyle to your stupid book club shit! You're so lame!"

"Children," Justin shouted over their already raised voice. "That's enough. Did you eat?"

"Yeah. We had some food while waiting for yours."

"Then go to your rooms."

I couldn't believe my ears. He was letting them go too easily, when usually he was the one to chide them.

"Not yet!" I joined them in the foyer. "Did you at least check your phones?"

"In the car," Ruby admitted in a small voice, looking down.

"And you didn't think to call back and say, 'Hey guys, we're still alive and on our way home.'?"

"I figured we'd get home soon and..." She shrugged.

"You figured wrong! You're grounded too, by the way."

"Why?"

"Because I say so!"

"Brian, calm down," Justin whispered, rubbing the small of my back. "We're very upset. I hope it won't happen again."

"We passed beyond upset when the curfew time was up and they weren't home yet, Justin. I don't know about you, but I'm fucking disappointed in their behavior. Especially you, Patrick."

His wide, scared blue eyes met mine. "I'm sorry, Dad."

"Sorry's fucking bullshit! You're older. I expected you to be mature enough to respect our rules."

"My phone's battery died."

"I bet."

"It's true," he tried protesting.

"I don't give a shit! You were gone for five hours! I remember saying that I want you home by nine."

"You thought you'd be done by nine," he retorted.

"Don't use that tone with me. Your room. Now." I pointed upstairs.

He shuffled toward the stairs, but stopped when he heard me following. "I'm going to my room, jeez. Do you think I'll make a run for it?"

"I'm coming to get your phone and your laptop. You're grounded, remember?"

"I need the laptop for school."

"You'll have it back by tomorrow."

He turned to Justin with pleading eyes. "It's my stuff in there."

"Patrick, stop being difficult. You brought this upon yourself."

"You can't simply delete my things!"

"I won't, trust me. There are methods to restrict your access to games and Internet activity aside from the links that help you for school."

He gaped at me, tears brimming into his eyes. "Dada..." He pleaded with Justin.

"Your dad is right. Maybe this way you'll realize how important it is to respect our simple rules," Justin said, but I knew he didn't approve of my decision.

"I want your phone too," I told Ruby, before nudging Patrick up the stairs.

"You didn't do this to Gus when he scared everyone a few years ago when he disappeared for the weekend when he went to that concert outside the city!"

"Trust me, the munchers took care of him. He's lucky he didn't live with me."

"Yeah, I completely agree. He's lucky he doesn't live with you."

"I'll make sure to get his phone and laptop," Justin offered, stopping me, when he sensed I was getting irritated with Patrick's behavior. "Come on, kiddo."

"Justin," I hissed.

"Go heat the food. It's better this way, before either of you says something you'll regret."

"I don't do regret," I scoffed.

"Brian, for once in your life, back the fuck down! I'll handle it."

I went into the kitchen, making sure to bang around as loud as possible.

I was beyond angry and I had nothing to take my anger on. The cupboard doors could take as much before they went off hinges.

"It's all my fault, Daddy. Don't punish Pat."

I whirled around to find Ruby hovering by the table. "Oh, I'm mad at you too."

"I'm sorry, Daddy. I promise it won't happen again."

So much bullshit in that sentence, I didn't even try correcting her.

And because she knew how to mellow me, she wrapped her arms around me, kissing my chin, whispering about how much she loved me.

You have to stay mad, I told myself.

"I had Chinese. I brought you the fortune cookie from my meal. I know you like them."

Okay. I couldn't stay mad. I wrapped my arms around her, kissing the top of her head. "I love you too, Peanut."

"Does that mean I'm forgiven?"

"It means I love you."

"What about Pat?" She insisted.

"What about him? I'm still very upset."

"Okay. Your fortune cookie is in the bag. I'm going to bed."

"Night."

"Night, Daddy."

I went straight to the bag and dug in after the only worth it thing to buy Chinese food. I opened the cookie and stared at the piece of paper.

You will ruin your relationship with a dear one through a silly fight.

The paper slipped from my hands.

I'd never believed in these things, but they usually amused me to no end. Though, this one hit a little too close to home.

Before I registered I moved, I was running up the stairs.

Patrick's door was shut. My heart was beating in my throat as I opened it. The room was dark.

Fuck.

"Patrick?" I whispered. "Are you asleep?" I inched closer to the bed, but to my surprise it was empty. "What the fuck?"

"I can't guarantee it will work, but I will try. I haven't seen Brian so angry in ages, Patrick." I heard Justin outside the room.

"Yeah, well...I totally didn't mean it. But my laptop and phone... I can't live without them."

"I said I'd try to talk to him," Justin said gently. "Now go to bed. You have school tomorrow."

Patrick froze in the doorway of his room when he saw me, after turning his light on. "Shit, Dad!"

"Promise me, you will never break the rules."

"I will try."

"That's all I wanted to hear. I won't give you a pass because it isn't grave what you did, but because it's the first time you broke the rules."

His eyes lit up. "You mean I can keep my laptop and phone?"

"Yes, but..."

"I will be a model child. I promise."

"You already are, Munchkin. When you don't throw hissy fits or come home after curfew without picking up your phone when we call."

"Sorry. Really."

"Come here." I opened my arms, and breathed easier when he snuggled into my hug.

"Patrick, can you..." Justin appeared into Patrick's room. "Oh. I couldn't find you downstairs. I thought you left somewhere..."

"I'm making up with my man." I mused Patrick's hair, making him groan and slap my hand away.

"Dad!"

"Any hot visitors?" I joked.

He turned red. "What?"

"Why do you need your hair to look okay when you go to bed?"

"Can I go to bed with my hair still nicely done? I have to wake up in less then nine hours."

"The horrors." I laughed, leaving his room after Justin.

oOo

The next morning, I woke up early, unable to sleep even five more minutes. After the adventures from the previous day, I was hoping to actually sleep in, but no such luck.

As I made coffee, I fed and watered the dog. I even gave him the pills which Justin had left by his food bag.

I had to hand it to him. He was one smart canine. He ate his granules, avoiding the pill, which was brown like his food.

"That too." I pointed to his pill.

He ignored me as he went to lap at the water in the other bowl.

"Sloth," I muttered, crouching next to him, tugging him closer. "Eat this too." I tapped the food bowl.

He eyed the few granules left and the pill, before turning his head and sighing.

"Christ, you're worse than a fucking baby."

Justin had managed to trick him last night, but I wasn't sure what he'd done since I went upstairs while he was washing the dishes. But he was proud of himself when he joined me in bed, boasting about how he tricked Sloth in taking his pill.

I opened his mouth, and before I could place the pill in, I got a loud growl from the dog. It made me squeeze his jaw tighter, glaring. "If you bite me, I'll kill you."

He made to wrench from my grasp, still growling in warning.

"I know it must hurt you, but if you don't listen, we have to do this." I placed the pill in his mouth, closed his muzzle, then tipped his head back.

He wrenched from my grasp, shaking his head. Then he gagged and I wanted to punch him. He was doing the same thing Patrick did when he was little and sick. Whenever we gave him pills, he gagged until he vomited them.

"Morning," Justin said quietly from the doorway. His smile slipped off when he saw the dog dry heaving in the middle of the kitchen. He rushed to him, petting his head, meeting my eyes. "Did you force him to take the pill?"

"I might have put it in his mouth then made him swallow it."

"Jeez, Brian. That doesn't work with humans, why would it work with an animal?"

"How did you do it?"

"I put it in his water after pestling it."

"What?" He was insane.

"I made it like a powder with the knife's blade, then put it in his water. He didn't have much water left by then...so he was thirsty and well...he drank it, even though he tried coercing me to put a fresh one."

"Well, he took this one my way."

Justin stroked Sloth's head. "Because you're a brute. Aww, sweetie. Go, drink more water. You'll be fine." He guided the dog to his bowl.

"Are we okay?" I had to ask, to make sure he wasn't still upset after yesterday's fiasco.

"I thought of you trip..."

"And? What did you decide?"

He smiled his special smile, slipping his arms around my waist. "I'd love to come with you to Bahamas."

"But?"

"No buts. Unless..." He slipped a hand to my ass, making me chuckle.

"Do you have time in two weeks to finish everything you have planned?"

"I guess. If I lock myself in the studio...I'll finish that painting in a few days. But then there's Molly..."

"Don't worry." I combed my fingers through his hair, kissing his forehead. "You'll meet your niece before we leave."

"Can't wait! I haven't been so excited in forever."

I rolled my eyes. "I still can't believe she came to me to ask for tips on pregnancy."

"I think it was cute."

I scowled. "I'm going to call Cynthia about my schedule and to get two tickets for my trip to Bahamas."

"Not going in today?"

"It's Friday, Sunshine. I'd rather spend it with you, a prolonged weekend." I swatted his ass lightly as I made my way to my home office.

When I reemerged from there, half an hour later, I found everyone awake, having a somber breakfast. The kids shot me worried looks.

"Morning." I gave Patrick the customary shoulder squeeze and Ruby the peck on the top of her head, before sitting next to Justin. "All set."

He grinned, leaning to kiss me.

"When are you leaving?" Patrick mumbled.

"In two weeks. You can decide where you'd like to stay while we're gone—with Keith and Leo, or with the munchers."

Patrick's eyes widened. "I thought you were leaving today!"

"Change of plans." I shrugged. "What, why so upset? Were you planning on helping Justin buy new locks?"

Justin elbowed me in the ribs, and I elbowed him right back.

"We could stay at Keith and Leo's," Ruby agreed quietly.

"Or alone home. We're old enough. I am, at least," Patrick butted in.

"No, you're not! You proved me wrong yesterday. And it all depends on your behavior till we leave, or we'll tell Keith and Leo that you're still grounded."

"I thought you've forgiven me."

"No, I haven't! You scared the shit out of us last night! I bypassed the phone and laptop restriction against my better judgment, but I can always carry on with my plan if you get an attitude!"

Justin placed a hand on my thigh, squeezing. He didn't have to say anything. I knew he hated when I got in all sort of arguments with Patrick, but this was a valid one, unlike our previous others.

"Awesome, so what's the rules?"

"What are the rules," I muttered, displeased by his grammatically incorrect phrasing. "Well, since you asked, I'll make a schedule, but it shouldn't be too hard to remember. Your schedule until you're forgiven is home-school-home, no lingering anywhere, and if you're held up in school or in traffic, I want to be kept posted with text messages or calls."

"Texting and driving? You're an awesome example, Dad."

"That's what the hands-free is for. I said call, too. As for the days when you have your book club or you art club, that doesn't take more than two-three hours."

He scowled at me, before digging in his breakfast, muttering about unjust people.

"Same is available for you too, missy," I told Ruby, in case she felt left out.

"But I haven't done anything wrong, Daddy! It's Patrick's fault we were late!"

Patrick frowned, kicking her under the table.

"Ow!" She cried out, grabbing her leg.

"Patrick!" Justin snapped. "You okay?" He checked on Ruby.

"I guess." She shrugged.

"I'm already sick of this argument. You're both guilty. You're being punished. You'll respect the rules from now and that's it," Justin said loudly. "If I'm going into my studio to have a head start on my painting, promise me you won't kill each other?" He kept his eyes on me.

I pulled him closer. "Go have a head start, because I'll have a head the second they're gone. I dare you to lock yourself in there!"

"Brian," he hissed, embarrassed, because I knew my voice had been loud enough for everyone to hear it.

Patrick pushed his plate away. "I've lost my appetite. Do you two ever get enough?"

I shot him a scandalized look.

"If you're done, wash the plate and glass, before going to get dressed," Justin told him in a sugary voice.

Patrick stared at him as if Justin had told him to throw himself in front of a car.

"Now," I urged him, before turning to Justin. We shared a big smile, maybe there was yet hope for us to make our little rascals behave and wash the dishes or clean up their rooms. "Weren't you going somewhere?"

Justin downed the last drops of his coffee, before standing. "You have your lunch boxes in the refrigerator. Behave for your dad." With that, he kissed me wetly and disappeared out the door.

No one said a word until we heard the studio's door closing behind Justin, on the floor above.

Ruby took her plate to Patrick. "Wash this too."

Before he could snap at her, I interfered. "Leave it. Go get ready. You don't want to be late."

Since Ruby has always listened to me, she was the first out of the kitchen.

"You too," I told Patrick, checking a new email on my phone.

He came to sit in the chair Justin had vacated. "Dad, I really didn't mean what happened last night."

"I bet you didn't. And now, I'm not sure if I'm upset at you or at me, for not making the rules much clearer before. But we never had that problem before."

"I know," he mumbled. "Can you promise me not to touch my laptop while I'm gone?"

"Oh, so that's the reason why you're suddenly so nice?" I joked.

"Please?" He gave me the puppy eyes.

"Sure." It wasn't a promise, and he saw right through it. Disappointed, he shuffled upstairs.

Now he'd made me curious of what he had in his laptop that was so important.

oOo

A few hours after the kids left for school, and Justin was still locked in his studio, I was getting bored out of my mind. The curiosity got the best of me and it lured me to Munchkin's room and to his laptop.

Of course, he had a password. It wasn't hard to crack it, because everyone knew the kid was in love with his best friend. It took me a few tries to figure out exactly in what way Kyle's name was used for the password, but I did it in the end.

First thing that greeted me was the desktop wallpaper, which was a picture of the two of them hugging and smiling. It reminded me of a similar picture I had with Mikey. They were so much like us, it was a surprise to hear and see Patrick was so much into Kyle.

In my book, best friends were simply best friends; they were that person you go to and boast about what you'd done last night, or shoulder to cry on when you break up or have a fight with your boyfriend, or the crazy buddy you go out drinking. Nothing more.

"What are you doing?"

I nearly dropped the laptop at Justin's shout. He was in the doorway of Patrick's room, glaring at me.

"Uh..." Fuck, I felt like the kid caught with a hand in the cookie jar.

"Brian, first you go through his stuff and now you're invading his privacy further by looking through his computer! What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"I didn't find anything I didn't know. He has so many pictures of Kyle, you'd think he's some celebrity. He has a folder with porn. And there are tons of sketches and edited pictures. He really inherited your talent."

That grabbed Justin's attention.

And like two good stalkers, we sat on Patrick's bed and looked through the sketches on his laptop. Most of them were of us, the family, others of his friends, but mostly Kyle.

"I remember when I used to sketch you in every way I could get you," Justin whispered.

"You can still do that. I'm always willing to pose for you. Though, my body isn't what it used to be."

"You're still fucking hot, Brian! Stop saying that."

After logging off Patrick's laptop, we went to our room where I posed in the nude for him, like in the good old days. Of course, Justin didn't manage to get much of the sketch done, before pouncing on me.

We were going downstairs after some of the best sex we had in about twenty hours, because yesterday's make-up session had been hot as hell, when the front door opened to reveal Patrick and Ruby.

I wasn't sure what gave us away. My mussed up hair? The hickey on Justin's jaw? Our swollen lips? Our freshly fucked faces?

Patrick fake-gagged. "So we leave you alone for a few hours and you spend the time in the bedroom?"

"I'll have you know that it started really innocent. Dada wanted to sketch me."

"But I got sidetracked halfway through the sketch."

"You didn't even make the outline." I laughed, draping an arm around Justin's shoulders. "What, Patrick? Jealous you're not getting action?"

"Brian!" Justin hissed. "Don't listen to him. How was school?"

"Like you care." He breezed past us, disappearing into his room.

Ruby eyed us like a wild, caged animal, as she tried following her brother, but we stopped her. She caved, and we went to make dinner while she told us all about her school day. I knew the days she told us what she'd done were numbered. We had Munchkin as an example.

As much as I loved our children, there was still a part of me that wanted Justin all to myself from time to time. Our trip to Bahamas couldn't come soon enough. We both needed a break from the teenage drama we had a home. Living with two teenagers was more difficult than I ever thought. Heck, not even Justin was so cunning and hotheaded when he was seventeen. But when both our personalities clashed, we ended up with two out of control teenagers, because I knew Ruby would follow in her brother's footsteps. Any day, now.

Chapter End Notes:

For the next outtake we might go back in time or jump a few years. It all depends if I finish the back in time piece, which I got the idea from a simple conversation with Tunee.

Until then, I hope you liked this outtake.

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