Not Like All The Others

JUSTIN’S POV

I stare at my mother from across the living room as she thinks of what I just told her. Her elbows are resting on her knees and her face is in her hands. I pace back and forth across the room, waiting for her to do or say something. When she finally looks up at me the expression on her face says that she’s torn between what to do. She runs a hand through her hair and then drops her gaze back to the floor.

“Please don’t tell dad.” I beg her. I don’t want him to know about Brian. He’d be pissed. She considers it for a moment then nods her head in agreement.

“I wont.” she says to me. She looks back up at me and the expression on her face becomes serious. “But if he hurts you,” she starts but doesn’t finish.

“He’s not going to.” I tell her even though I can’t really be sure. There’s nothing stopping him. But it’s worth the risk. “So, you’re not going to say anything to dad?” she shakes her head in response then glances down at her watch.

“I’ve got to go pick up your sister. I’ll be back in a little while.” she says, standing and moving to the door. I get up and follow behind her. She grabs her coat and takes out her keys.

“Thanks.” I tell her before she walks out the door. She turns and pulls me into a quick hug before walking to her car and driving off. I turn back into the house and go up to my room, thankful that my mom understands, or at the very least is accepting the situation, and wondering how long I’ll be able to keep it from my dad.


BRIAN’S POV


I sit on the sofa trying to will away the headache that I feel coming on. As it begins to fade away I hear someone knocking on the door to the loft. I walk across the room to answer the persistent knocking. On the other side I find a very guilty looking Michael. My headache comes back full force as I remember the scene in the diner.

“What is it Mikey?” I ask him hoping he didn’t come to be a pain in my ass.

“Hey.” he says timidly. “Can I come in?” I open the door further and step aside. He comes in and stops in the middle of the room. His hands are in his pockets and his eyes dart around, looking at everything but me. I just wanted to say I was sorry.” he begins. “About what happened at the diner. Ben and I had a fight this morning so I was in a bad mood. Do you forgive me?” he asks looking up with a hopeful smile.

“Yeah. Don’t worry about it.” I say walking over to him and pulling him into a hug. “Just don’t fucking do it again. What I do and who I do it with is my business. Nobody else’s.” Michael nods his head in understanding. I let go of him and return to my previous spot on the sofa.

“I know that it is none of my business. It’s just that I don’t understand how you can go away for a couple of weeks and just come back with some kid. I mean, I thought you didn’t believe in love and relationships and all that other shit.”

“I don’t. We met while I was away we caught a plane back together we hook up every now and then. I’m still tricking and I’m not stopping him from fucking around. It’ hardly what most people would consider a relationship.” Michael nods his head again.

“But it’s the closest anyone has ever seen you come to one.” I shoot him a warning glance before staring back down at my hands. He’s right. Most people don’t even get a second notice. “You’ve never defended anybody like that before.” he continues. “I mean there’s me and Lindsey and the rest of the gang but outside of that you don’t really give a shit what happens to most people. Especially a trick. So this kid must be pretty special huh?” I consider denying the accusation then decide against it. Instead I simply nod my head in response. When I look up at him I see the slightly hurt expression on his face.

“What’s wrong?” I ask him. He looks up from the spot on the floor that his eyes had been focused on. He lets out a long, slow sigh before answering.

“I just always thought that,”

“I know what you thought.” I cut him off. It has been painfully obvious that Michael has always hoped we would get together. Now he’s finally starting to see that it probably wont happen.

“So, is he your boyfriend or something?” he asks me, the question catching me off guard.

“No.” I answer defensively. “We have sex. It doesn’t go any further than that.” I tell him. He doesn’t say anything but the look on his face says that he doesn’t believe it will be that way for long. And if I’m completely honest with myself I can’t say that I think it will either. But how often am I honest with myself? So, I’ll continue to tell myself that he means nothing. Well, almost nothing. Mikey begins to make his way to the door.

“I have to go. Ben and I are supposed to go out later to make up for the fight this morning.” he says with a smile. I return it and pull open the door, letting him out. I slide it shut behind him and lean back against it. Michael’s not a bad guy, a little annoying maybe, but not bad. He just needs to get the picture and move on. Maybe now he’ll finally start to.


JENNIFER’S POV


Twelve years. Justin is dating somebody twelve years older than him. He’s not even a senior in high school yet and he’s with somebody who is long since out of college. What if this guy hurts him? I don’t want to see Justin get his heart broken. He said that this man wouldn’t do that but he can’t be sure. Have they had sex? And if they have were they safe? What if they weren’t? what if this man gets Justin sick? How did Justin even meet somebody this much older than him for a long enough period to get involved? How long have they been together? I know I should tell Craig but I’m honestly afraid of how he might react to it. He could hit Justin. He could try and find this guy and end up doing something stupid. I have so many different thoughts running through my head that I can barely sort them all out. On one hand I want my son safe and allowing them somebody so much older doesn’t exactly qualify for precaution. But on the other hand, I want Justin happy. And this man seems to make him happy. At least the way it appeared by how fondly Justin talked about him. The only way I could know anything about this man for sure would be if I met him. But could I really bring myself to meet someone that could very well be sleeping with my son? That may have taken his virginity? I don’t know. And how could we do that without Craig finding out? Thoughts like these continue to run through my head for the rest of the ride.


When I arrive at Molly’s friend’s house Molly runs up to the car and climbs in after shouting goodbye to her friend. I look over at my daughter and smile, trying to put all of the worries out of my head.

“Hey, sweetie. Did you have a good time?” I ask her. She looks back at me and nods her head enthusiastically. She takes a closer look at me and frowns.

“Mom, is everything okay?” she asks me.

“Of course it is baby.” I reassure her. “Now tell me what you girls did.”

The smile returns to her face as she begins to ramble off all of the events of the night before. I try desperately to pay attention and not allow my thoughts to wander back to the talk Justin and I had earlier.


MICHAEL’S POV


As I drive back to the house to meet Ben for our date my mind begins to think about Brian’s odd behavior when it came to this kid. Brian hasn’t even told me his name yet. I wonder if he knows. Of course he knows dumb ass. They met while he was out of town, he hasn’t just called him kid the entire time. I still can’t believe how quickly he stood up for him. He doesn’t do that for just anybody. But it doesn’t seem like this kid is just anybody either. I’ll admit, he’s easy on the eyes but it would take a hell of a lot more than that to get Brian to act this way. He could have anybody that he wanted. So what is it?

I pull up in front of Ben’s apartment and get out of the car. I walk up to his room and knock on the door. He answers quickly.

“Hey. Come on in. I’ll be done in just a second.” he says, leaning in to kiss me on the cheek. I walk in and sit down, still thinking about Brian. I know I have no reason to be upset. I have a great man. And everybody has been telling me for as long as I can remember that nothing was ever going to happen between Brian and I. I guess childhood dreams just die hard. Ben comes back into the room and notices the look on my face.

“What’s wrong with you?” he asks me.

“Nothing. Just shocked that’s all.” I tell him. He looks at me curiously.

“Shocked about what?”

“Brian has a boyfriend. He hasn’t admitted it yet, but more or less that’s what he is.” A look of surprise crosses his face.

“Brian Kinney, Brian?” he inquires. I nod my head. “ That must be one of the signs of the apocalypse. So, let’s hurry up and go eat before the world ends.” he jokes. I laugh and follow him out of the building.


EMMETT’S POV


Teddy puts in the movie while I get us both a beer. He had agreed to come over for awhile since Michael had a date with the professor. Thinking about Michael causes my thoughts to drift over what happened earlier that morning. Brian and him had one hell of an argument over what appears to be a man, of kid as Michael had put it after Brian left, in Brian’s life. Could it be that our dear ‘I don’t do love’ asshole has found someone who won his heart? Michael left shortly after Brian so we didn’t get any details. Michael said that he was going to go over there before he went to Ben’s. I wonder if they made up or just got into another fight. And people say I’m a drama queen. Okay, so maybe I am. But that doesn’t mean that those two can’t match my ability when they want to. I walk into the living room and flop down on the sofa.

“Hey Teddy, what do you think that the scene at the diner this morning was all about?” I ask him, deciding to get his view on it. “Do you think that Brian has a boyfriend?” He gives a sarcastic laugh.

“Brian? No way. He probably just met some guy on the plane and the bathrooms were already taken up by fellow members of the mile high club. So he brought him home, Michael came over and got pissed. You know how he is when it comes to Brian. He’s still waiting for him to wake up and realize they were meant to be.” he replies.

I shrug my shoulders, not sure that it’s really what’s going on. It’s a possibility but I think it’s more than that, call me a hopeless romantic. It wouldn’t exactly be a bad thing. Brian might actually be happy for once and maybe Mikey would finally devote his emotional attention where it needs to be.

On Ben.