Diffrent Path

 

 

Chapter 17…

 

Debbie lay down the phone after talking to Brian. She laid her head in her hands and sighed. She felt so helpless.

 

“Oh, please God help me. What can I do?”

 

“Nothing…” Vic said from the doorway. “Sis, there is not cure for a broken heart. It needs to heal on its own.” The weary older man sat down beside his sister.

 

“It’s time that he saw the truth. Brian needs to be free to live his life.” Vic said as he leaned back on the sofa. He was so proud of his boys but Mikey tended to a bit more hard headed.  The boy had been in love with Brian since his early teens and that was over twenty years. Most marriages did not last that long.

 

“You’re right…” Debbie said, as she looked up and saw Mikey coming up the driveway. The man’s shoulders were slumped and he looked like the image of misery.

 

Soon they heard the front door open and close and saw Mikey enter the living room. Debbie stood and walked over to her son. He looked up at her with such sadness in his eyes.

 

“You know, don’t you?”

 

“Yes, I know. Brian called me. He loves you so much, honey but you’re his baby brother.” Debbie said with a soft voice, as she pulled him into her arms for a hug.

 

“It hurts. Its hurts so much.” He sobbed into his mom’s chest. She walked over to the sofa and pulled him down so she could sit. She was grateful that Vic had quietly slipped away. She heard him rummaging around in the kitchen probably making hot cocoa.

 

Holding her son as he cried his heart out over her adopted son made her heart bleed. She felt a sense of calm as well. She had waited for this day for almost fifteen years now but her poor boy was far more stubborn then she thought.

 

 

It had been over a week since the Mikey incident. Brian had gone back to work and was working hard with the holiday ads. Justin had gone to Orientation and was buzzing over starting at PIFA.

 

The blond was working at the diner hoping to get together at least a part of the tuition. He had not told his mom or Brian, but when he went to his dad’s accountant he had been told that his College Fund had been liquefied. He had gone to his dad and it had been ugly. They had fought and things had been said that could never be taken back.

 

It seemed that he had no father.

 

So he had been working almost non-stop at the diner. He felt tired as he got out of a booth after eating lunch. His eyes were gritty and he was pale. He was so stressed when he got home he hardly slept either. He went over to a table were two young men sat down. Then he turned to go to the window and leave the order. He managed three steps before he collapsed. The last thing he saw was Emmett’s face coming into his view. Then everything went black.

 

He woke up later and everything was white. The first thing that he heard was the doctor’s voice.

 

“… wrong with him. He is just severely exhausted and also dehydrated.” The doctor’s voice came closer, followed by another pair of footsteps. Justin turned his head towards the sound.

 

“Ah, young man so you’re awake. How do you feel?”  The doctor was a grandfatherly figure with a greying hairline and smiling, grey eyes. Beside him stood Brian, who was a very welcome sight despite the shame Justin felt.  He tried to sit up on his own but failed.

 

“Brian!” Justin smiled. His voice sounding so frail and weak that Brian moved to his side in an instant, helping him to sit up.

 

“What happened, Doc?” Justin asked.

 

“Your body said stop, young man. You have not been taking care of yourself.” The doc said as he took Justin’s blood pressure. “There’s nothing wrong with you. You just need to sleep, eat and drink properly. You can go home.”

 

“Thanks Doc,” Brian said, “I’ll make sure of it...” Brian looked sternly at Justin. The young man in his arms had the good grace to blush.

 

Brian had never been as scared as when he had gotten the call from Emmett that Justin had collapsed. He had rushed out of a meeting with little or no explanation to his clients. He had only told Cynthia.

 

He had driven to the hospital in record speed, arriving just seconds after Justin.  He had called Jennifer on the way.

 

They had met with Emmett in the waiting room.  They only had to wait thirty minutes but it had felt like an eternity. The doctor had come out to talk to them. After much discussion Jennifer and Emmett had gone home, but had made Brian promise to call Jennifer later.

 

Driving home the hazel-eyed man was quiet. Justin knew that his lover was angry. The whole trip was spent in silence.

 

Coming to the loft Brian pointed to the bedroom, his whole demeanour telling Justin that there was no point in arguing. Heading up to the bed Justin undressed and curled up on his side. He looked up as Brian came and sat down beside him.

 

“You’re going to tell me what is going on…right now...” Brian’s tone held no room for arguments.

 

Justin turned over and looked up at Brian. He looked so pathetic that Brian almost let him off the hook but he hardened his heart. This was the best thing. Get it out now while his defenses were down.

 

“Justin?”

 

“I need the money to cover my college tuition. I talked to the school; I can pay it in monthly instalments. Problem is that I need the money in before Friday. So I guess that this college thing is a bust.”

 

“I thought you had a big old College Fund?” Brian said, stroking his fingers down Justin’s arm.

 

“I found out that my dad liquified it…”

“What! Does your mother know?” Hazel eyes become cold as they spoke of a man he had come to loathe, just one more item to add to the list.

 

“He doesn’t need to inform her. He is the only administrator of both mine and Molly’s fund.” Justin yawned and smiled up at Brian. “I think I’ll sleep better now.”  In the next heartbeat he was asleep.

 

Brian stood and walked over to the phone. He dialed a number and waited for an answer.

 

“Can you come over? I need to discuss something with you… ok thanks. ”

 

Twenty minutes later he opened the door to reveal Ted.

“Thanks for coming over. I need you to draw up some papers for me.” They moved over to Brian’s workstation. Brian took a seat and started telling Ted what he wanted and when he wanted it. Ted had been Brian’s accountant for six years and knew the man’s finances inside and out.

They worked together for about two hours. 

 

When Ted was let out there was a sizable fund in place for Justin’s use for his education. There was also a smaller College Fund in place for Gus. They had been talking about it but now they had done it.

 

Brian headed up the steps to the bedroom. He grabbed his cell phone and went back to the kitchen to call Jennifer.

 

“Hey Mother Taylor… Yeah, he is asleep…. Zoned out like five minutes after we got home. … Yeah I got it out of him. It seems your dear ex is refusing to cover your son’s educational costs…. No, don’t worry about it Jennifer I will make sure that his fees are covered….” He ran a hand through his hair while he listened to reasons why he shouldn’t give Justin the money. “ Jennifer, I want to do this… I have the money to do this…. I want to do this….because I care for him.”

 

They spoke quietly for a while longer. When he hung up he looked at the time, time to wake sunshine up for dinner but before he went to awake the sleeping beauty he ordered the food.

 

Crawling up Justin’s body he listened to the boys breathing. It was deep and untroubled. He truly hated waking him but Justin needed to eat.

 

“Oh Sunshine…” He whispered in Justin’s ear. Placing a kiss on the delicate shell he felt a shiver go down his body. “Wake up. Food is coming.”

 

Justin turned over in Brian’s arms. Bleary blue eyes opened and a slow smile spread on his lips.

 

“Hungry, Justin?” Brian asked before leaning down and kissing his blond gently.  They separated laughing as Justin’s stomach growled.

 

“Pizza is here in ten minutes.” Brian stood and headed towards the kitchen. “Take a shower and we’ll eat on the sofa… “

 

Justin stood and headed into the bathroom, grabbing his robe and a pair of sweats on the way. A quick shower later he was curled up on Brian’s sofa under a blanket with a big glass of soda on the table and a slice of pizza in his hand. Beside him Brian sat dressed in sweats and a ragged old college sweater.

 

They had turned on ‘The Fast And The Furious’, wanting something mindless and fun with hot guys to watch. They argued over Dom vs. Brian, who of them would be a top. 

 

An hour later the pizza was eaten and Justin was dozing off, leaning against Brian. The older man was gently combing his fingers through Justin’s hair in a rhythmic motion.

 

“Justin, I have arranged for the tuition to be paid.” Brian felt the blond stiffen up. Brian calmly waited for him to gather his thoughts.

 

“Why?”

 

“Because I want you to be all you can be. If that means I pay your tuition that’s a small thing, Justin.” Brian kissed Justin’s hair. “It’s just money.”

 

Justin looked up. Hesitant blue eyes looked into calm hazel eyes.

 

“Is this something you really want to do Brian? I can do it myself.”

 

“Yes, you have showed that so wonderfully this week. Yes. To keep you healthy, I will do this.

 

“I-I can’t accept this Brian…” Justin sat up straight looking at the older man.

 

“Yes, you can Sunshine…” Brian leaned in, looking deep into blue eyes. “Because frankly Sunshine, you’re my partner, and if I can help you in any way I will. So I am afraid that you’ll just have to accept it.”

 

“Ok I’ll accept it,” Justin leaned on Brian’s chest, “But only because I am so tired.”

 

They leaned back on the sofa. It took about ten minutes until Justin was asleep. Brian lay on the sofa holding Justin long after the film was over.