Golem

The next morning, feeling more than a little foolish for being jealous of an eight-year-old, Brian called Julian. He didn't apologize. Instead, he invited Julian and Noah to spend the day with him and Gus.

Julian knew that was as close to an apology as he was likely to get.

They took the boys to the park and to some kids' movie that had just come out. Afterwards, Gus insisted on ice cream for dinner. Julian skillfully talked the child around to having pizza for dinner and ice cream for dessert. He made an utter mess of himself, as small boys are wont to do, and Brian didn't look forward to delivering the sticky boy back to his mothers.

As he and Gus headed out the door of Julian's that night, Brian paused and pulled his lover in for a soft, lingering kiss. He looked as if he wanted to say something, but couldn't find the words.

"I'll try to remember you don't like surprises," Julian promised quietly.

Brian grinned then. He kissed Julian again before climbing into the car.

*

Within a month, Julian hadse tse to remember his promise. And good cause to spring something on Brian unexpectedly in spite of it.

"What the fuck's going on?" Brian asked, as he let himself into Julian's house and surveyed the complete mayhem going on around him: Nicky was running around in circles, Paul was yo-yoing between talking to Nicky and trying to quiet Noah, who was hysterical. Julian was kneeling beside Noah, tears running down his own cheeks as he tried to calm the child.

At the sound of Brian's voice, Julian rose shakily and moved to embrace the other man. "There's been an accident," he said quietly. "Mom was hit by a drunk driver...we don't know yet how bad it is. We've got to get to the hospital in Philadelphia, as soon as we can."

"Shit," Brian breathed. "Do you need me to drive you?" he asked, gently stroking Julian's hair.

"I...oh God, Brian, I hate to ask you to do this," Julian said, rubbing the tears from his face with the back of one sleeve. "Could you maybe keep an eye on Noah for a day or two - just until I can....assess the situation? I tried to call Lindsay - I thought maybe he could stay with Gus - but I never got an answer."

"They're out of town," Brian reminded him. He mentally cataloged everyone who might be called upon to baby-sit Noah, and came up with nothing.

"Paul offered," Julian continued. "But..." He looked around to make sure no one was listening. "When I said something to Noah about staying with Paul, he kind of freaked out. Tried to convince me that he's old enough to stay by himself. It...it was Noah's idea to call you."

Brian crouched down beside the boy, whose sobs had subsided into quiet hiccoughs. "Hey," he said gently, smiling reassuringly when the little boy looked up at him with frightened eyes. He glanced from Noah's teary blue eyes to Julian's red-rimmed ones and knew he was fucked. There no wno way he could say 'no' to either one of them, but when they ganged up on him like this....

He ruffthe the boy's hair affectionately. "Go get your stuff," he said simply.

Noah nodded solemnly and then headed up the stairs towards his room, Julian right behind him. A few minutes later, they returned and Julian handed a duffle bag to Brian. He scrambled in his pocket and came up with a spare key to the house.

"If you need anything, feel free to come get it. Um...."

Brian hugged Julian to him tightly. "He'll be fine."

"I know. Thank you so much, Brian," Julian murmured, soaking up Brian's warmth and strength for the uncertain hours ahead.

*

Brian awoke some time in the night to the sound of quiet sobs. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he staggered from the bed and into the dimly lit living area.

"Noah?" he called. "What's wrong?"

"I..I'm sor…sor…sorry!" Noah sobbed out. "I…didn't..m-mean to!"

Confused, Brian switched a lamp on and moved closer to the crying child, his eyes following Noah's to see what the boy was looking at with such abject horror written on his tear-streaked face. It took a moment for his brain to register what he was seeing, and then he cursed under his breath.

"I'm sorry!" Noah wailed.

Brian closed his eyes and forced himself to take a deep breath. Julian hadn't mentioned anything about the kid wetting the bed - or in this case, his expensive leather sofa - but he knew it wasn't Noah's fault. And he wasn't about to traumatize the kid by yelling at him for something that he had no control over.

"It's okay," he said in what he hoped was a soothing voice. "Let's get you cleaned up so we can both go back to bed." Wondering how he had let himself get talked into this whole babysitting thing, Brian led the boy into the bathroom and started the shower while Noah began stripping off his wet pajamas. He ruffled the boy's hair affectionately as he walked out.

While Noah cleaned himself up, Brian took care of the soiled blankets and sofa. Not the most pleasant task, but he'd dealt wworsworse. Once he was satisfied with his handiwork, he headed back to the bathroom to wash his hands and check on Noah.

Noah fiddled with the shower controls, accidentally blasting himself with cold water, and Brian tried hard not to laugh as he watched the boy work out how to turn the water off. He grabbed up a towel, wrapping the child in it when he stepped out of the shower.

"Feel better?"

Noah nodded, but he wouldn't meet Brian's eyes. He wasn't sure what else to do to set the boy at ease, so Brian opted to do something useful instead. He grabbed another, smaller, towel and set to work drying Noah's hair. When he was done, he slipped the larger towel fromund und Noah's shoulders, dropping it down to wrap it around his tiny waist.

It was then that he saw the bruises.

Like a mirror image, one oval-shaped bruise marred the child's skin on either side of his body, in the hollow between his collarbone and his armpit. His expression drawn, Brian turned Noah slightly. As he suspected, there was a column of round bruises on the back of each arm. He could remember having bruises just like these during his tumultuous childhood - bruises caused by a strong hand gripping a child's arm far too tightly.

Not wanting to hurt or frighten the boy, he tried to keep his touch light and non-threatening as he fitted his thumb to the bruise in front and his fingertips to the bruises on the back of Noah's arm. He felt the little boy tremble at the touch and pulled his hand away again.

"Noah," he said quietly, tilting the boy's face up with a gentle touch under his small chin. "What happened?"

"Nothing," the boy answered, jerking away from Brian's touch.

"I don't believe that. I know something happened. Something had to have happened for you to get those bruises." Brian was seething, wanting to lash out at someone, but Noah was the innocent one in this, and there was no one else around. He bottled up his anger, forcing himself to breathe and stay calm. "You can tell me, Noah," he said more gently.

"I can't," Noah whispered.

With a sigh, Brian stroked the boy's slightly damp hair back from his forehead. He vaguely remembered being young and afraid, keeping the secret of his father's fists and his mother's indifference. Things were different now than they had been when he was a child, though. And where he hadn't had anyone to turn to - at least not until he met Michael and Debbie - Noah had him. He was determined to get the truth out of the child and do whatever he could to help him.

Tucking the towel more firmly around Noah's middle, he hefted the boy and settled him against his chest. Noah wrapped his arms around Brian's neck and rested his head on his shoulder. A few minutes later, Noah was dressed in clean pajamas and tucked into Brian's bed.

Turning down the lights, Briaawleawled into the bed aet Net Noah snuggle into his arms. Part of him wanted to put off interrogating the child until they'd both had a little more sleep, but the other half of his mind urged him to get it over with.

"Noah," he said, gently rubbing the child's back in an effort to keep him calm, "I really need you to tell me how you got those bruises."

"I can't," the boy whimpered.

"Did whoever hurt you make you promise not to tell?" Brian guessed. He could feel Noah's nod against his chest. "Sometimes, Noah…sometimes, you have to brprompromises."

"He said if I told I'd hafta go away," the child whispered.

Brian let his eyes fall shut for a moment, reassured by that simple statement. He had been fairly certain that the bruises were too large to have been made by Julian's hand, and he was sure that the man loved this boy too much to ever hurt him, but Noah's desire to stay reaffirmed his believe that it was someone other than Julian who had abused the little boy.

"Who said that, Noah?"

"I can't tell you!" Noah cried out, the words muffled against Brian's chest. His small body began to tremble with quiet sobs.

"What if I guess? If I guess who it is, can you tell me if I'm right or wrong?"

Noah sniffed and turned his head to the side so he could breathe. He was quiet for a moment, and Brian wasn't sure if he was going to answer. But then the boy nodded; it was slow and hesitant, but it was also an agreement.

"Was it Julian?"

"No!" Noah replied, sitting up and shaking his head. "Julian loves me."

"I know he does," Brian soothed. He gave the boy a small smile and wiped away his tears. He tilted his head to the side and pretended to think. "Well, it wasn't me, and it wasn't Julian. And it wasn't Gus, was he?" He teased, managing to coax a tired smile from Noah. Then he turned serious again. "Was it Paul?"

Noah looked down suddenly, pulling his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them.

'Bingo,' Brian thought. It made sense. Noah's reluctance to stay with the other man, the strange way that Paul had seemed to watch the boy's every move…. And he had been alone with Noah just a few days before - time enough for the bruises to begin to fade, but not to disappear altogether.

If it wasn't for the tired, frightened little boy sitting here on his bed, Brian would have left right then for Philadelphia, on a mission to strangle the bastard. Instead, he stifled his anger and drew the child into his arms. "It'll be okay," he murmured. "I'll make sure of it."