Justin:

We were having a blast! Without having to worry about that bitch and the unmentionable, we were as happy as we could be. After wining both cases, we returned to normal- but with the upgrade of no more interruptions or those annoying two idiots thinking they had the right to be involved in our private life. Brian returned to work, trying to organize everything so he could accompany Gus and me to the tour. I finished my first year in pre-law with flying colors and gave my notice, to the university, that I would take a sabbatical year. I was relieved that neither of the three (Jessica, Laura or my college) were angry at me for that.

I started sketching some ideas for my art gallery, but nothing definitive yet. With my finals, preparing for the tour and spending time with my family, I didn't get to put my head on it. But at least, I started talking with Ted about numbers, with Brian for ideas to advertise it, with Laura for any legal stuff I would need and with Emmett for his help for the inauguration party. I was still in contact with some of my old teachers in PIFA, who had their eyes on some rising stars who might be good enough to present some of their works for the opening of my gallery. My old teachers gave me the numbers of their students and some pictures of their works, I liked a couple of them enough to schedule an interview with them, for when I get back from the tour.

I still had to ask Jordan for some advice about handling my own business and start thinking what pieces, from the ones I have in storage, I was to put on sell for the inauguration of my gallery. Thankfully, I used more than half of them to decorate Britin and the list of choices was reduce- so, I didn't have to lose my mind choosing from a lot of them

I was, also, able to finish another chapter of the third volume of my graphic. The difference in the way we, Isak and I, publish it in comparison of when I first began Rage, was that the printed graphic novel is sold when the complete volume is finished, not chapter by chapter like comics. But it doesn't mean that my fans have to wait months to know what happens in the next volume. Isak came up with the idea of downloading the chapters on the Internet, for the clients to but them like e-books. However, we never upload the last chapter of the volume, if you want to know what happens at the end you need to buy the print copy of the graphic novel. Luckily for me, Rage was continuing to have a great success, if not more than the previous ones. 

The tour was doing great, and Eva was an excellent choice as an agent- always calm and in control of the situation. Gus and Brian were also having a great time, when they weren't with me at the Comic Con, they were sightseeing. And when I was busy with interviews, Brian had a blast shopping and shipping everything back to Britin. He was lucky we are both rich, otherwise we would be in trouble, thank to his clothes obsession.

I still recall his response when I complained about how much money he spent in Los Angeles: "But Justin! The new Prada and Boss collection are out, I need to have them all- it's good for business. Also, it's PRADA!" 

I am engaged to a shopaholic, but I love him anyways.

Los Angeles, Pittsburgh and Canada were a dream come true, the family vacation, we deserved after so many years of struggle and adversities. It, also, had the perfect amount of work for us, two workaholics. We were now finishing in Argentina, waiting impatiently to get to France and Norway. But I knew that Brian was keeping something from me, nothing bad but a surprise. He might fool everyone, but I know him as the palm of my hand. I normally would have called him out on it, but I was in a good mood and decided to let him have his fun.

I might end up loving the surprise!

If only I knew how true those words were...

-Back in Pittsburgh-

Melanie:

These last few months were rough for me... but I was getting better.

When the cases were done, I used the money I earned, by buying the old house and bought a modest apartment for JR and me. It wasn't as big as the house, but good enough for the two of us. Gus even had his own room, for whenever he was ready to forgive me and come back to live with me. I made sure to terminate any legal claim Michael had on JR, and gave them to Ben. They might not be related by blood, but if I learned anything from this whole ordeal, is that blood doesn't mean it all. Ben has been there for JR since the beginning, and he was the one who paid support for her when Michael lied about not having enough money to do it himself. Also, I couldn't take her away from him the same way I feared Brian would do to me with Gus. He and Hunter were delighted with the news, and I gained a few points with them- they still were angry, but accepted me back in their lives... the same can't be said about the rest of the gang.

Justin refused to even look at me, Brian didn't acknowledge my presence, Debbie gave me a lecture every time I met her, Emmet was polite to me but cold at the same time, Teddy was the only one who started to forgive me- and only because our friendship was the longest. I worked a lot of stuff with my psychologist and finally accepted that the world isn't against me, and things didn't go wrong in my life because others wanted me to fail. My feminism toned down a bit, realizing that me not achieving my dreams wasn't because I was a woman and this was a man's world. Then, I began trying to accept the fact that Brian isn't my enemy, that this isn't a war... and even if it was, I already lost it. That was more difficult, but I was getting there. Another issue I was trying to resolve was the guilt I was feeling for the way I treated Gus- I think I'll never overcome that... but it was still worth trying.

"Ted!" I called out to my friend, when I saw him leaving Kinnetik.

I've been trying to call Brian for weeks now, but he never answered. I wanted to see if Gus was ready to see me yet, I missed my little boy. So, I decided to walk towards his office and get some answers personally.

"Mel... what are you doing here?" he asked me confused.

"Trying to catch Brian, what about you? Why are you leaving the office in the middle of the day?" I replied.

"Double lunch date with Emmett and Drew" he answered.

"They got back together?" I inquired, happy for Emmett- he deserves happiness more than anyone.

"Yes, Drew figured out he didn't need to party and experiment being finally out of the closet. He came back for him and made a huge gesture to get him back and get him to forgive him. I'm surprised you didn't know, it was all over the news- Drew even got his closest friends from the team to tag along and help him out" he informed me "Why would you try to find Brian here? He is in Argentina by now, with Gus and Justin. It's a Rage world tour in Comic Con"

"What?! He took Gus out of the country and I was not informed!!!" I exclaimed, angrily at his guts.

"Why would they need to ask you anything? You are no longer his mother Mel, you never really were" his words were like a cold bucket, I could only stare at him in shock- not believing that my best friend would say such cruel words to me "I love you Mel and I know you want to atone for your sins. However, you need to understand that Gus will never come back to you. He is officially Brian and Justin's and they will make it so it always stays like that. You have no legal reason to demand partial custody and after the way you behaved Social Services will make it so you'll never get it. Be lucky that they let you keep JR and that Brian and Justin let you still be in Gus' life- but only as his aunt, that's all you'll ever be" I began to sob by then, but he kept on going "Also, they'll never allow Gus to see JR as his sister, not knowing she has Michael's gens, and with them expecting one of their own. Again, you are lucky they are considering letting Gus, play with her 'cousin'. You lost Mel, you need to accept that and move on. That way it will be better for everyone involved" with that said he turned around, and walked away.

I hated it... I hated how true his words were. How delusional I was in believing Gus will ever come back to me after everything. When I got back home, I entered the room I had prepared for him and tore everything, it looked like a hurricane had passed by when I was finished. Tomorrow I would make the arrangements to make it into a guest room, but tonight I cried myself to sleep on the bed that should have been my son's.