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The End Done Right
by Vamphile
Chapter Fifteen
Brian woke up to the sound of Gus crying. Justin didn’t seem to hear it, and Brian couldn’t figure out why it sounded like the child was in the walls until he remembered the intercom system.
He pulled on a pair of jeans and hurried to Gus’s room.
He realized as he was walking that if they had thought it through more carefully they would have put the option of having the intercom also run into one of the guest rooms, but the setup was designed for when Gus and JR were visiting, not for when their mom’s came with them.
Brian rubbed his face and pushed his hand through his hair and found Gus sitting on the bed, hugging his teddy bear, eyes wide, tears streaming down.
He stopped crying almost immediately when Brian entered.
“Daddy!”
Gus ran to him grabbing his leg and refusing to release his grasp.
Brian walked over to the bed, dragging Gus via his seemingly permanent attachment to his leg.
“Did you have a bad dream?”
Gus was still sniffling a little, his breathing ragged from crying, and as he opened his mouth to talk he hiccupped. Then he giggled and Brian let out a deep breath.
“I woke up.”
“I noticed.”
“No one was here. Where are we daddy”?
It suddenly dawned on Brian that they had put the child to bed, and forgotten that he’d never seen his room, and racecar bed or not, it’s no fun to wake up alone and not know where you are.
“We’re in you’re new room Gus, at my house. This is where Justin and I live.”
Gus smiled, “This is my room?”
”Yup.”
“These are MY toys.” Gus said possessively, waving his hand around at the array items neatly placed on shelves and in bins on the opposite side of the room.
“Yeah” Brian smiled.
“Where are mommy and momma?”
They’re in their room.
“Did they get new toys?”
Brian laughed a little too hard at this.
“No, they had to bring their own from home.”
“Want mommy” Gus said, sitting on Brian's lap.
“Well, lets go find her”
Brian put the boy down and took his hand; He wanted Gus to walk to the guest room so he’d be able to find it on his own.
They walked down the long hallway and Gus looked up at a few of the pictures on the wall, “did Justin make these?”
“Some of them.”
“He colors inside the lines real good.”
“Yes he does.”
Brian heard muffled voices coming from the guest room, they didn’t sound happy.
“Momma’s being loud again.” Gus said, “She’s loud in the morning sometimes, that’s why me and Sam go and play outside.”
“Sam and I” Brian corrected automatically.
“You go and play with Sam too?”
Brian just shook his head and knocked lightly on the door.
Lindsay’s voice, a little too chipper invited them in.
“MOMMY!” Gus yelled as soon as the door opened, launching himself onto the bed, no small feat as it was a raised frame and an upholstered two step riser had been created just for such purposes, but Gus managed to go from the floor to his mom’s lap in a single running jump, cuddling into his Lindsay like a puzzle piece. “I woke up and I didn’t know where and then daddy told me that it was my room and everything in it is so cool and Sam’s in there now making sure no one touches all my new stuff and then I wanted to see you and daddy said you were in your room but I didn’t know where that was so he took me here and now I’m hungry can we have breakfast soon?”
Lindsay laughed, “We’ll have breakfast in just a minute why don’t we get dressed first and then we’ll wake up your sister.”
Justin walked in, groggy eyed, wearing only sweatpants, and holding a crying JR in his arms. “She’s already awake.”
He looked over at Brian “We really should have had the intercom connected to the guest rooms.”
Brian smiled “I was thinking that very same thing.”
Justin leaned in and kissed Brian good morning.
Mel, who had, up until this point, only been glaring, covered the space between JR and herself in three strides and plucked the girl out of Justin’s arms. “We’ll meet you downstairs.”
Lindsay was wearing a simple sleeveless nightgown, and as she turned to pull on her robe Brian saw another bruise where her neck met her back. His stomach knotted and his jaw clenched. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before walking back with Justin to his own room.
They showered in silence; Justin was unable to interest Brian in anything more than a simple exercise in hygiene.
“What’s wrong?”
Brian remained silent “I offer to blow you in the shower and you turn me down, so either you’ve gone straight on me, or something’s wrong.”
“It’s nothing.”
Justin rolled his eyes
“Has refusing to talk to me ever worked?”
“Probably, once, I’d have to check all my case notes on you, which are at the office.”
“You keep case notes on me huh?”
”Sure, there’s a stenographer in the closet, and a video system in the lights over the bed.”
“Mmmmmm hmmm. I’m gonna let it go, because when you’re ready, you’ll talk to me, but don’t think I don’t know that you’re upset. Is it something I did? Are you mad that I interrupted you guys this morning?”
Brian looked at him oddly “It’s not you, it’s not anything, I told you, nothing’s wrong, now, are you going to make my son eat something I cook, or are you gonna get your cute little ass downstairs and make breakfast?”
Justin seemed to consider his options. “Well, I guess we are better off without Gus having food poisoning, so let’s go with the second option.” And with that Justin stepped out of the shower and was in the kitchen ten minutes later, wearing studio ready clothes, and taking breakfast orders like the diner pro that he once was.
Justin had work to do around the house to prepare for the party. He’d convinced Brian to go with Mel and Lindz for the day. They planned on taking the kids to the zoo; Michael, Ben and Hunter were going to meet them there.
Brian spent the day watching Mel and Lindz carefully, he tried to put his suspicions aside, but it wasn’t easy. Mel didn’t take her eyes of Michael or JR and all but ignored Gus and Lindsay throughout the day. He’d like to be home, helping Justin but the sneaky blonde refused any assistance, determined to make this a party for Brian.
Justin spent the day on the phone with Emmet, driving him insane with final decisions, perpetual questions and general anxiety.
Michael had specific instructions to keep Brian out of the house for as long as possible today, and if at all possible get him too drunk to return home for the night.
It didn’t work. At 8 all of them walked into the house Gus was asleep drooling on Brian's shoulder.” Justin pushed Michael, out the door quickly, “NO, not ‘til tomorrow.”
The others walked into the house.
Justin and Michael stood in the driveway. Justin tried not to look aggravated but he was.
“What?” Michael asked, “He wouldn’t even go to Woody’s with me, he just wanted to get back here, something about helping out Mel and Lindz with the kids.”
I thought you were taking JR back to your house.
“Yeah well Mel thinks she’s coming down with a fever, or a cough or… who the fuck knows, but she’s keeping her here tonight.”
“I’ve got a hundred people coming for a party tomorrow, and I have a million things to do and I need these people out of the house.”
“It’s fine, tomorrow they’re meeting us at our place for brunch, and then… I don’t know, I’ll do something to keep them busy.”
“I’m counting on you.”
“I don’t see what the big deal is, it’s not a surprise. Brian knows there’s going to be a party, hell he’s paying for the whole thing.”
“I want to do this for him, just keep him out of the house for one more day.”
“Sure, whatever.”
After Michael drove off Justin heard voices coming from the kitchen, the debate was pizza or Chinese. Brian grumbled occasionally about there being no decent Thai in the area, but he brought it home with him from the city often enough that Justin knew at this point the grumbling was nothing more than habit.
The decision was made, Chinese was ordered.
“I’ve got some work to do, I’ll be…”
“In the studio?” Justin smiled and leaned down to kiss Brian. When he stood up Brian looked at his watch. Dinner should be here in half an hour.
“Not hungry.”
“Two.”
“Four.”
These little battles were now almost love notes, almost; Brian did his best to keep it light but was pretty adamant about enforcing whatever compromise they came to.
“Two thirty”
“Four thirty”
Brian laughed, “You’re going the wrong way.”
“Two forty five.”
“Three fifteen.”
“Three ten.”
“Sold.”
“See you then.” with a last kiss Justin disappeared.
“He’s spending a lot of time on getting the show together,” Lindsay observed
“Yeah, well, he’s a perfectionist about his work.”
“How’s the new stuff coming?”
Brian shrugged, “He doesn’t want to show it until it’s done.”
“Not even to you?”
”I think it may be an especially not to me kind of thing, but I’ll just be glad when this party is over. I can’t wait for people to stop nagging me about when they can see the house”
“Why haven’t you let anyone see it ‘til now?”
“It’s not me, it’s Justin, he won’t let anyone see it until it’s perfect”
They both looked at him oddly. “You do know that he’s blaming this whole thing on you right?”
Brian concentrated on keeping his face blank.
“He’s told everyone that you won’t allow him to have anyone over until after the housewarming party.”
“Yeah well, it’s easier to believe I’m the one being the asshole than that he is, he went with the most logical excuse.”
Brian let this information spin in his head. Justin had been so adamant about no one seeing the house until it was perfect that he had let it go, just throwing money at the contractors and decorators so it would hurry up and be perfect, but using him as an excuse, as if his mother, or Daphne, or even Debbie and Michael cared if the house was under a bit of construction. One more piece of damn puzzle. He wondered if it was time to talk to a shrink again, but he put the idea out of his head. Once the party was over, he could focus on Justin with a little more clarity, see if getting past this hurdle pulled him back to reality. He was hoping it would.
Brian glanced down at the table and saw Melanie holding Lindsay’s hand, spontaneous shows of affection were a good sign, and maybe he was jumping to a lot of wrong conclusions lately. The doorbell rang and he got up to get the food.
“Why don’t we eat in the den? Lindz, you want to grab the beer out of the fridge?”
They both nodded and Brian met them back there with the food.
They dug in and he and Lindz were trying to remember what the name of the terrible restaurant that they had always ordered from when they first got out of school, and were so broke they could barely afford ramen noodles. At ten Mel announced that she was tired and Lindsay followed her up to bed.
Brian rolled himself a joint and slowly got stoned, mixing the buzz with a couple of glasses of ice-cold gray goose as he got on the computer and did a bit of research.
Justin could not seem to get them out of the house fast enough the next morning. He gave them each a pop tart, and practically pushed them out the door.
Brian looked at the pop tart in his hand like it was an alien being. “What the fuck am I supposed to do with this”?
“Eat it.”
Brian looked at it questioningly “Sodium, and carbs in a handy package of artificial flavorings and, what is that on top, rainbow sprinkles?” he handed it back to Justin, “I’ll pass” Justin shrugged and pushed him out the door.
“I have a lot of work to do today, I’ll see you at seven, no earlier.”
It was nine am, Brian shrugged, “I’m going into he office after I drop them off at Mikey’s, call me if you need me”
“I won’t.” Justin said
Brian leaned in and kissed him, pulling the boy into an embrace. Justin struggled, he had too much to do to…. Then he melted into Brian, “Mmmmmm, maybe I will call you.”
“Don’t work to hard, you’re supposed to enjoy this party too.”
He kissed Justin softly, nibbling on his lower lip, and pulling their bodies closer. “I expect you to have plenty of energy left at the end of the night.”
Justin smiled, “I promise I won’t wear myself out, I’ll leave that for you to do.”
“That’s all I’m asking.” Brian smiled; he lightly ran his tongue across Justin's lips and then climbed into his car “And if you take my car, don’t leave any fucking trash in it.”
Justin put up his fingers to indicate scouts honor and Brian smiled as he drove away.
As he was pulling out of the driveway Brian saw several vans pull up and realized that Justin really was going to have his work cut out for him. He picked up his phone and called Emmet.
“You’re coming today to help Justin right?”
“He said you wouldn’t let me.”
“I’m giving you permission. I’ve got half a dozen vans driving up to my house, this is your area of expertise, give the kid some help.”
“I’ll be over in a flash sweetie.”
Brian was at the office when his Justin called him on his cell. “Make Emmet go away.”
“No, I told him to be there.”
“No one’s supposed to see it until it’s perfect.”
“It is perfect.”
“But it’s not done till the florist and the…”
“Give the phone to Emmet.”
“Yes Brian?”
“Be persistent.”
“Yes Brian.”
”Brian.” Justin whined
“Don’t whine, Emmet promises not to look at anything until the party, just let him in the fucking house.”
Justin hung up the phone without saying goodbye and Brian hoped that he was doing the right thing.
Brian returned to the house a little before seven. Justin saw him enter and ushered him upstairs quickly. He tried to glance around but it was difficult with Justin doing his best to keep him from seeing anything. He did notice that the place looked nice. He left it at that.
Justin and Emmet were almost done. The kitchen was bustling, floral arrangements, simple vases of calla lilies and orchids were placed prominently, and the dining room table was laid with candles and crudités. The bar was set up in the corner of the dining room, and another on the deck outside the kitchen.
Cases of wine had been delivered, and the bars were stocked with the high-end stuff that Brian preferred. In all it was probably a good thing that Emmet had been there.
The electrical guy had finished the lighting project just an hour before, and handed Justin the remote, showing him how it worked. When they tried it out Justin would have been jumping up and down if he hadn’t been so tired.
When Justin was convinced that everything was under control, he went upstairs to shower and get dressed.
Brian was laying on the bed, fully clothed and half asleep when Justin came in. He was about to hurry Brian into the shower when he sat down on the bed and realized how tired he was. He kicked off his shoes and rested his head on Brian's chest, laying an arm across him and closing his eyes.
“Just ten minutes.” Justin said.
Brian pulled him a little closer.
A half hour later Justin opened his eyes and yelled a stream of curses without stopping for breath. Brian looked up startled.
“I said ten fucking minutes, TEN.”
Brian looked at his watch “It’s fine, we’ve got plenty of time, the invitation says 8, that means no one will be here ‘til at least 8:30, that’s gives us almost an hour.
Justin was already naked and getting into the shower “You really think Deb is going to wait ‘til 8:30, or Michael?”
Brian joined him in the shower as he franticly soaped his hair, while still talking
“Or Daphne, or my mom? Christ Brian, we’re gonna be late to our own party.” He turned around and punched at Brian's arm “Why didn’t you wake me?”
Brian was doing his best not to laugh. “I’m sorry, I really am.”
Justin picked up his razor and was about to start shaving when Brian grabbed his wrist. “Why don’t you just slow down a little with the really sharp blade in your hand okay? Can’t see first impressions of the house going well if your face is all covered in blood.” He took the razor out of Justin's hand and with long slow strokes shaved across Justin's jaw line. Kissing each newly smoothed spot.
“Brian, we don’t have time for this.”
“We have plenty of time, now relax, I don’t want to hurt you.”
It’s hard to argue with a man holding a razor to your neck; it’s also hard to argue with Brian when his hot mouth soothes any potential razor burn. Justin leaned his head back and allowed Brian to finish the job.
“I’m glad Hunter volunteered to watch Gus and JR tonight, Mel and Lindz seem like they could use a break.”
“Shhhh,” Brian said as he finished the last stroke and kissed Justin right where his jaw met his neck. But it was nice to know he wasn’t the only one who thought the couple seemed tense.
They dressed quickly and Brian said nothing about the fact that the suit that was tailored to fit Justin exactly just two months ago was hanging off of him and that his belt was on it’s last hole. The kid had to start eating.
Brian wore black pants and his Armani tuxedo shirt, but decided to forgo a jacket, as it would seem too formal.
Justin was fidgeting but he looked amazing, even if the suit was no longer a perfect fit.
“Ready?”
It was 8:05 the heard the doorbell ring.
“Ready.”
Brian interlaced his fingers with Justin's feeling the younger man’s nerves coming off of him in waves. He stopped him at the top of the steps and kissed him, sucking on his tongue in a steady rhythm until he felt Justin relax a bit. “Okay, now we’re ready.”
They came down and opened the door.
Everyone was there, Deb was standing front and center, but Emmett and Carl flanked her on either side. Ted and Blake were directly behind them and Melanie and Lindz were standing next to Michael and Ben.
“Welcome all.” Brian said, making a grand sweeping gesture he moved to the side to allow them access.
After the grand tour the doorbell rang again and this time Emmet answered it, and as people greeted Brian and Justin, the true flow of guests began.
For Justin everything after that was a blur. He circulated, making sure everything was going as planned. Accepting hugs from his mother and Daphne and a few others in a bit of a daze, making small talk with Brian's employees and business associates, and generally keeping an eye on Brian the entire time to make sure he was enjoying himself.
Brian was impressed, the party was going well, he hadn’t expected anything less but was still relieved, as he knew how much this meant to Justin. People didn’t seem too bored, and his friends were obviously impressed with the place, which he honestly did not care about. He was however pleased that Justin seemed to be getting rave reviews. At 11:00, Justin and Emmett seemed to take over for a moment, the catering staff was there to help, moving the furniture, and the DJ cut the music.
Justin pulled out the remote and hit a couple of buttons. The lights dimmed, and then went out, and suddenly, subtly placed floor lights, and the laser lights that had been installed this morning lit the place with a different kind of atmosphere. The DJ cranked up a dance tune and the entire house was suddenly doing a fairly accurate impersonation of Babylon. Brian threw back his head and laughed. The kid never ceased to surprise or amaze him.
And as the next song started Brian recognized it, and pulled Justin to him, and they danced, in the dark, together, as others followed. The table that had been so elegantly laid out with caviar puffs and baked Brie now also sported an ample supply of poppers and E.
The party livened up, and it was after three before the last guest staggered out into the night. Brian and Justin made it up to their room where there was one surprise left.
Brian walked into what could only be described as his old loft. Justin had sometime during the evening arranged for the light fixture, six neon bars to be hung over the bed. The dark blue sheets, the duvet, it all looked right.
“Were we feeling nostalgic?” Brian asked, kissing at Justin's chest, which had been bare for at least the last hour or so, he wasn’t quite sure when the shirt had been removed, he just remembered having been angry it was there at the time.
Brian and Justin were both stoned, and horny, and suddenly Brian had an irrational surge of anger at Justin’s pants. “You’re pants are stupid.”
“Why?”
”Because they’re on you.”
“I’ll make them smarter.”
“Do that.”
Justin started to take his pants off, but Brian was too busy trying to touch him to let him do a very efficient job
When he was finished Justin laid back on the blue bed “Now you’re the one with stupid pants.”
“I’ll make them really smart, I’ll put them right here.” He dropped them, arms out, at his sides, he took a step forward, looking like he did the first night they’d ever met.
“So are you…?”
Justin didn’t even let him complete the line
“I’m staying.”
Brian collapsed on top of him, his mouth everywhere at once.
And it was well after two the next day before they emerged from the bedroom, freshly showered, completely sated, a little bruised, and extraordinarily hungry.
Send feedback to vamphile @ gmail.com