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Jennifer nodded at the new arrivals. “Good evening, Carrie, Richard! Spiffy hair-color, Hunter!” Then she noticed that Hunter was very pale, and he was shivering. He looked around nervously, clutching a thick wad of papers.
Shane hugged first Carrie, then Richard. “Hello parents! I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.”
Richard shrugged. “Expect the unexpected around Brian.”
“Nice to see you, Jennifer,” Carrie gave her a bright smile. “I take it the beautiful boy taking Brian’s breath away is your Justin?”
Jennifer smiled. “Yes, that’s Justin. But I’m not sure who’s taking whose breath away.”
“And he still has his scalp,” Richard smiled. “I admire your restraint, Judson.”
“Harm a hair on his head, and you have to deal with Brian,” Judson grinned. “I’d like to keep my own scalp for a bit longer, thank you!”
Richard nodded. “Unfortunately, we need Brian back on Earth. How do we accomplish that?”
Judson shrugged. “You wait until one of them needs a drink. Or until the music stops.”
“Just cut in,” Carrie suggested. “Go on, Shane.”
Shane shook his head. “Not me, mom, no way. You go ahead.”
Richard adjusted his glasses. “Brian is really not combustible, you know.”
“Can we please get on with it,” Hunter pleaded.
“Go sit down, boy. I’ll bring Brian to you,” Richard said kindly.
Startled, Justin tried to take a step back when a tall man with wire-rim glasses put his arms around Brian. It took a moment for Brian to let go.
“Mind if I cut in,” the stranger’s cordial voice was light and teasing.
Smiling, Brian turned into his arms. “Athair ! Let me guess, Vic phoned you.”
“That he did, mac . We had to give Hunter a ride,” the man nodded to the fireplace where Hunter huddled in a chair.
Brian looked at Hunter and shook his head. “Athair, meet Justin Taylor. Justin, the very honorable Judge Richard Shea.”
“Very pleased to meet you, Sir,” Justin said smoothly, holding out his hand.
Richard took it in a firm shake and grinned. “Don’t be so formal, son. Richard will do.”
“What’s with Hunter,” Brian asked in an undertone.
Richard shrugged. “I tried to find out, but you know these kids. Drama queens, both of them. I gave up before he could become completely hysterical.”
“It’s nice of you to bring him here for his fit. We sorely lack for entertainment around here,” Brian smirked. “Let’s go talk to him before he starts climbing the walls.”
He put an arm around Justin and drew him along. A tall, slender woman with dark hair and twinkling dark eyes stepped into their path. Justin wondered how old she was. If this was Shane’s mother, she had to be in her fifties, at least. She looked forty, at best. She wore brown slacks and a blue blouse, and she had the figure of a young girl.
“Carrie,” Brian said delightedly. “Hello beautiful!”
Carrie hugged him gently. “Brian. How are you?”
Her tone made it clear the question was not an idle one.
Brian shrugged. “Just dandy. You haven’t met Justin Taylor yet, have you. Justin, this is Richard’s wife, Carrie.”
“Good evening, Ma’am,” Justin said easily. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Ma’am!” Carrie smiled at him. “You’ll find out it isn’t so nice if you don’t start calling me Carrie straight away! And once I start grilling you about everything you know about Brian!”
Justin smiled. “I can call you Carrie, that’s the easy part. As for grilling me about Brian – I’m afraid Brian scares me more than you do.”
“You know what’s good for you,” Brian grinned at him.
Carrie sighed. “Did you notice how easily Brian evades questions?”
Justin shrugged. “He did answer you.”
Carrie wrinkled her nose. “Without saying anything.”
“What do you expect? He’s an ad-man. He’s supposed to be able to do that.”
“Are you quite finished talking about me,” Brian said testily.
Carrie winked. “He hates that.”
Justin nodded sagely. “I know.”
Richard chortled. “Let's leave them to it, mac. They get along just fine.”
“That’s what I’m worried about,” Brian muttered, grabbing Justin’s wrist and proceeding to where Hunter sat, staring morosely into the fire.
Justin was tempted to pull his arm back, but he sensed Brian didn’t want to take him away from Carrie so much as to hold on to him.
“Hey,” Brian said softly. “What’s up, Hunter?”
Hunter looked up at Brian, and Justin wondered whether he had been crying. His lids were puffy and his mouth looked swollen. He tried to say something, but apparently, he couldn’t get a word out. A rolled up bunch of computer print-outs was on the chair next to his leg, and he was running one fingernail across the paper, creating an annoying little scratching sound.
“Want to go talk in the library,” Brian suggested.
Hunter looked at the door as though tempted, but then shook his head. “I can tell you here,” his voice sounded rough, and he cleared his throat.
Judson joined them, handing Hunter a glass of water.
Brian raised an eyebrow at him. “I rather think he could do with something stronger.”
Judson smiled. “Yeah, but then you'd find out that we’re not really out of Jack Daniels.”
“I knew we weren’t,” Brian shrugged. “Stop conspiring with Justin, will you.”
“Touchy, are we,” Judson said easily, winked at Justin and went back to get Hunter a whiskey.
“Hunter,” Brian prompted gently, sitting on the armrest next to the young man. “Tell me what’s eating you.”
Justin stood behind Brian and draped an arm across his shoulder. Brian leaned back against him a little.
Hunter took a sip of the water, then looked at the glass as if it contained poison. Very carefully, he sat the glass down.
He looked up at Brian. “You’ll be so pissed at me.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time,” Brian said calmly. “Get it over with.”
Hunter sighed. “You won’t take it out on Vic, will you? I mean, I understand you’ll want to fire me, but really, you can’t blame Vic. It had nothing to do with him, and it's all my responsibility, anyway. Promise you won’t be pissed at Vic? It’s not his fault, I swear!”
Brian rolled his eyes. “I don’t believe in tribal liability, Hunter, you should know that by now. Would you mind getting to the point?”
Hunter sighed again. “I went into your computer at the loft. Just a hunch I had. I remember you’d said about those emails from… erm, you know? Not getting any, and no replies and all that?”
That sentence made no sense to Justin, and judging by Richard’s and Carrie’s expressions, it made no sense to them either. Judson narrowed his eyes though, as if in anger.
Brian frowned for a second, then raised an eyebrow. “Oh those. What about them?”
Hunter ran a nervous hand across his face, and Justin noticed he was sweating. “You were.”
“Was not,” Brian said. “Don’t you think I would’ve noticed? Apart from that one time.”
Hunter looked up at Brian, a pleading expression on his face. “Promise you won’t kill me.”
“I promise,” Brian said. “I’ll just kick you where it hurts. Make you suffer, like. So, I was getting them, but didn’t see them? What’s this, the mysterious case of the invisible emails?”
“More like, diverted,” Hunter offered.
“Diverted,” Brian exclaimed as though that was an explanation, eyes widening. “How?”
Hunter grabbed the papers lying next to him and put them on Brian’s leg. He pointed to a row of numbers. “That's the correct IP addresses, I mean, correct sender and receiver.”
He turned the sheet over. “Here, we have the correct sender’s address, and the correct email addy – but with an incorrect path.”
Justin felt Brian stiffen. “You're saying he diverted the mails I sent?”
Hunter sighed. “It's more than that. He hacked into your account and diverted all mails sent to that client to his own address. It's like intercepting your mail, you know?”
“He seems to have made a hobby of that,” Brian said coldly. “Go on, what else?”
“He hacked into the other account, and diverted all mails from that account to his own address.”
Brian nodded. “All mail? So nothing from that client went through to the correct receivers?”
“Nothing. Unless that client was using another computer to send from.”
“Cute,” Brian muttered. “Where do you come into this? How is it your fault?”
Hunter swallowed audibly and drained his whiskey. “He asked for my help.”
Justin held his breath. No way! Hunter couldn’t have done such a thing knowingly.
Brian took a deep breath. “Are you saying he actually told you what he was doing?”
“No!” Hunter shook his head vehemently. “Of course not! If I’d known, I would have informed you immediately. He claimed he kept losing emails he got at the shop, and that he needed some sort of back-up. So I walked him through the steps necessary to redirect his mail.”
“That would be like copying his own mail, right? How did he make sure neither party got copies of their email?”
Hunter sighed. “I told him how that’s done, because he said he didn’t want to spam Ben with his shit.”
“Wouldn’t you need administrator’s rights or at least a password to do all that,” Carrie asked.
“I have no idea how he did it,” Hunter admitted. “Michael just isn’t computer savvy enough to do it on his own. And I sure as hell didn’t give him any lessons in hacking!”
“Ted said you can purchase software to decode passwords,” Judson offered.
“Sure, you can. But that’s illegal,” Hunter said. “Maybe Ted helped him, he’s pretty good at crunching numbers.”
“Illegal doesn’t seem to worry him much. Either of them,” Brian commented. “I don't get why you think I’d be mad at you, Hunter.”
“You don’t get it? It's my fault that he was able to do that. It’s my fault you guys had a break-down in communications.” Hunter pushed both hands through his hair in frustration. “I fucking don't know what to say. Sorry just doesn’t seem to cut it.”
Brian put an arm around his shoulders. “Calm down, you little drama queen. You're not responsible for what people do with the information you give them. I’ve known the creep for some twenty years and didn’t see how Machiavellian he really is. I used to think he was so dumb he couldn’t pass a blood-test.”
Hunter ran a hand across his face again and leaned into Brian. “I was just so scared you’d never talk to me again.”
“You should be so lucky,” Brian smirked. “Why didn’t you just get on the phone and tell me all that?”
“I couldn't,” Hunter muttered. “I had to look you in the eye.”
“You’ve got guts,” Emmett said. “I have to give you that.”
“What did Vic say,” Brian asked.
Hunter shrugged. “That I’m a perfect dork.”
“Nobody’s perfect,” Brian snorted. “He’s a fine one to talk. It's not as if he cottoned on to Dopey!”
“No,” Hunter sighed. “But I actually helped Dopey with his schemes.”
“Unknowingly,” Brian said gently. “Don’t dwell on it.”
“That's easy for you to say. I mean, I actually helped isolate … you know who. And stopped you from…”
Brian shook his head. “You can’t change the past. Forget it. Call Vic. Better yet, let me call him.”
Brian pulled his cell from the back pocket of his black jeans and speed-dialed. The answer was so quick, it must’ve come after the first ring. “Vic, you asshole. Did you have the phone in your hand?”
“Thought so.” Brian rolled his eyes. “No, you fool, I’m not going to fire him. It's not his fault his step-father is a conniving little shit.”
Brian spoke to Vic for a few moments longer, assuring him that yes, all was well and that yes, he’d keep Hunter at the mansion for the night. He finally hung up.
“I hear Blake is at your place.”
Hunter shrugged. “He just wanted to return the car, but he’s in such a state, we couldn't allow him to leave.”
Brian nodded. “I’m glad he's not alone tonight.”
“Here,” Hunter sighed and gave the stack of papers to Brian. “I printed out what I could find. They’re sorted by addressee and date.”
Brian weighed the pile in his hand for a moment. “That’s a lot of emails.”
Hunter nodded. “I already printed on both sides of the sheets. You can distribute them as they are.”
“What, like candy?” Brian shook his head. “I need talk to Justin first.”
Hunter looked at Ben. “I bet you hate me now, don't you? I had to tell the police, I had to! He kept doing nasty things, to everybody he knew. Tonight, I found out that he was dipping into my account, and into yours. It had to stop! And robbing Brian like that...”
Ben looked at Brian. “I told you, didn’t I.”
Brian took a deep breath. “It’s not as if I didn’t believe you. I thought he had trouble keeping his shop afloat. What does he need all that money for?”
“No idea,” Ben shook his head. “And not my problem, not anymore.”
Hunter was anxiously looking from Ben to Brian and back.
Ben met his eyes and sighed. “Hunter. I don't hate you. You’re my son and I love you, whatever you do. Anyway, you did the right thing. I'm behind you all the way.”
Hunter smiled, a watery little smile. “Thank god.”
Brian pulled him into a bear-hug. “Listen to me, you little idiot. Are you listening?”
“I'm listening, Brian,” Hunter said, “I always listen to you.”
Brian nodded his satisfaction. “You will never be alone again, Hunter. Never.”
Ben joined in the hug. “We might get annoyed occasionally, or even seriously pissed at you. But we won't desert you.”
Biting his lip, Hunter returned the hug, his eyes squeezed shut. “I rather like having a family now, you know.”
“Real families stick together,” Ben said. “Michael and Debbie never were real.”
Justin sighed to himself. So Michael had stolen from his own husband, and his son? What kind of person would do that? What had he done with the money, gone to more cons?
“If it's okay with you, I’ll go to bed, I’m bushed,” Hunter said. “I've had quite the evening.”
Their eyes met, and Justin realized with a start that this was the first time tonight Hunter had even acknowledged him. “You can beat up on me tomorrow, okay? I promise I won’t run away.”
Justin shrugged. “I have no idea what this is all about, but whatever it is, I don’t see how I can blame you if Brian doesn’t.”
Hunter shrugged and got to his feet. “Here’s hoping you won’t change your mind,” he sighed. “’night folks.”
Ben joined him. “Wait, son, I’ll tuck you in.” He put his arm around Hunter’s shoulders and they left together.
“It's time for you to go to bed, guys,” Mel said. “Say good-night.”
JR put her thumb in her mouth, clearly ready to sulk. Brian picked her up and winked at her, and she smiled. “Was that grass on his head,” she asked.
Brian grinned. “No. Remember Janice and her purple hair? It’s like that, just a hair-color.”
“Like mamma’s,” JR concluded.
“Gee, thanks. I really wanted people to know that,” Melanie laughed. “Bed, young lady. Now!”
JR tried to wink at Brian, but she only managed to squeeze both eyes shut.
Brian grinned and kissed her, then set her down. “Good night, sweetheart. We’ll see you in the morning!”
He turned and looked at Gus. “What’re you waiting for?”
“I need to talk to you,” Gus said seriously.
“I think your daddy has done enough talking for one day,” Mel said. “You can talk to him in the morning, Gus.”
Gus pulled his lips into his mouth, looking amazingly like his father. “I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep.”
“Gus,” Mel said, sounding weary. “Come on, be a good boy now. It’s really late.”
Brian shook his head. “Give us a minute, Mel. You don’t want him ghosting through the house all night.”
Mel shrugged. “Whatever. Send him up when you’re done.”
Brian bent and picked up Gus. “So son, what’s the problem?”
Gus frowned. “Can we go in the library, please, Daddy?”
“Excuse us,” Brian said and took Gus out of the room.
“I think I’ll go on up,” Daphne said. “My back is killing me.”
Matt got up instantly. “Come on then, love.”
“Wait a sec,” Calvin said. “We're coming with.”
Leda looked at Molly and inclined her head toward the stairs. Molly nodded and, saying good-night, they went upstairs.
“If we stay here, Brian will be up all night,” Shane said. “I’m off.”
Judson smiled. “You’re right.”
They left together, after Judson had given him a gentle hug. He was one hell of a guy, and Justin wondered whether they could actually become friends. Would Judson want to be friends?
How did he fit in with these new guys? Looking back, he could see that in the beginning, he had simply wormed his way into Brian's circle of friends. It had never even occurred to him to wonder whether Brian was okay with that. And now? Would Brian want him included in this family group? He had kept his two lives apart very carefully, and now they might merge because of his mere presence. How would Brian feel about that?
He liked Judson, and Jim was terrific, too. Shane scared him a little, and his parents – whew.
Justin was uncomfortable. Everybody had seemed quite accepting of the changes in Brian's life, but without Brian, he felt like an outsider. What should he do, just presume and slip into Brian's bed – into the very sheets Brian had shared with Judson last night?
Justin sighed softly. Why could life never be easy? Because you always manage to make a mess of things, that's why, he admitted silently.
Jennifer looked at him searchingly, then stepped closer and whispered, “You made your bed. I hope you sleep well in it.” Louder, she added, “Good night, everybody.”
Justin drew a breath between his teeth. Sometimes, he felt like slapping his mother. She could be so damn self-righteous!
Surprising him, Tucker pulled him into a hug. “It's that time of the month,” he whispered into his ear. “Don’t let her get to you.”
Justin grinned and hugged back. “Thanks. Sleep well!”
“That leaves us,” Carrie smiled. “Let's give them some space.”
Justin hadn’t even noticed that Jim, Ken and Dave had crept out already.
Richard seemed to hesitate. “I need to speak with Brian, but I guess it can wait.”
“It will wait,” Carrie said sternly. “Have you looked at the boy? Brian’s had enough for one day.”
Richard winked at him. “Are you going to let Brian get some sleep?”
Justin tilted his head. The question irritated him; but Brian seemed very close to the couple, especially Richard. So, maybe Richard had a right to ask him that.
“I’ll make sure Brian gets what he needs,” he said finally, trying to keep his tone neutral.
“That tells you,” Carrie laughed at her husband. “Don't let him intimidate you, Justin. Richard is a pussycat, really. The claws only come out for our boy. He’s even more protective of Brian than I am!”
Justin sighed. “It’ll take me a while to figure out where I fit in, please bear with me.”
Carrie stood in front of him and put a gentle hand against his cheek. “Don’t you worry none, Sunshine. Fit in with Brian, and everything else will fall into place.”
“Thanks,” Justin smiled. It was odd to hear his nickname from somebody he’d only just met, but he found he liked it.
“Come on, Richard,” Carrie said briskly. “I won’t let you linger until Brian comes out of that room!”
Richard rolled his eyes. “You're so lucky, Justin. At least you won’t have to live with a bossy woman.”
Justin smirked. “I just get to live with a bossy man instead.”
They laughed, and the couple went upstairs. Justin wondered how many rooms there were, but remembered that even when Brian had shown him the house, they hadn't seen all of it. The fireplace and the dancing shadows it created had been just too enticing.
Justin looked around and collected the empty glasses. He carried them to the kitchen, then went to the bar and closed the open bottles and put them away, and took the rest of the glasses to the kitchen.
Still no sign of Gus and Brian. Justin loaded the dishwasher, then found a clean cloth and wiped the tables and other surfaces. He took two bottles of cold Evian into the bedroom, and made sure Brian’s gel pads were in the icebox.
Finally, he turned off the music and put the CDs back where they belonged. He was about to find himself something else to do when Brian carried a widely yawning Gus out of the library.
A flicker of relief crossed Brian's face when he saw that the living area was deserted. “I’ll be right with you, just let me take Gus upstairs.”
Justin nodded. “I’ll wait.”
“Would you get the emails, they're in that drawer,” Brian fished for the keys with one hand while he held on to Gus with the other.
Justin took them and did as Brian asked, wondering why the crappy emails couldn't wait until morning. He locked the drawer again and went to sit in front of the fireplace. Brian would have to show him how to turn the thing off, he mused.
Lost in thought, he was dimly aware of soft voices upstairs, and quiet laughter.
Brian returned a few moments later. “I got out of reading bedtime-stories,” he grinned. “Richard is stuck with that job tonight!”
Justin returned the grin. “Isn’t it a little late for stories,” he asked.
Brian shrugged. “They're on holiday, and Gus and Richard are very fond of one another. Maybe we’re lucky and the kids will sleep a little later tomorrow!”
“It's a good job the house is so large. I was wondering whether you'd have to kick Carrie and Richard out into the night!”
“A few people have their own rooms here,” Brian explained. “Carrie and Richard, Hunter and Vic, and Shane and Leda. That way, they don’t have to cart all their stuff back and forth.”
“Doesn't Leda mind sharing with Molly?”
“She offered, actually, so the answer would be no. That pair get on like a house on fire. You should hear them laugh when they work together!”
“They work together? Where? How?”
Brian shook his head. “Justin. I realize you’ve been out of touch. Can we put off those questions? For now, let’s concentrate on the stuff Hunter brought. Do you want to stay here, or do we go to bed?”
Justin looked up at him, realizing he was out of his depth. There was no question he wanted to sleep with Brian. No question he wanted to sleep in Brian's bed. He just didn’t want to share the sheets with Judson. How to tell Brian?
“Are those particularly difficult questions,” Brian smiled at him, and Justin remembered he had said that to him before.
When? Oh yes, when Brian had fallen out with Michael, and had asked him to come over for the first time. He’d been sitting in the diner with Daphne.
Justin got up and put his arms around Brian's waist. “I’m a bit ditzy,” he confessed, “Things have been moving so fast.”
Brian held him close for a long moment. “Too fast for you,” he asked quietly.
Justin tilted his head back to look into his eyes. “No. I’m just trying to catch up with myself.”
“Maybe you need to stop moving for a while,” Brian suggested. “Let's sit down.”
Clever, Justin thought. You’ve been trying to get him to rest all evening, and now you stop him from doing just that. He suddenly understood that the longer he waited, the more difficult it would be to actually get into that bed.
“No, let’s go to bed,” Justin said.
Brian shook his head. “Who are you, little Miss Contrary?”
Justin sighed, and Brian shrugged. “Grab those papers while I turn off the fire,” he said.
