MY GIRL
Part 13

Thanks to MANDI, Lois & Darren!

One Month Later:

Brian walked through the front door and was greeted with silence. In the kitchen, he opened a beer and finished it in two gulps, as he walked up the stairs to his bedroom.

Empty and silent...just like everywhere else.

It took every ounce of energy to change into a pair of jeans and a wife-beater, he was exhausted. But he knew he should check on his kids, make sure they were ok...and Justin. He needed to make sure his partner was doing better. The new living arrangements were something they all still needed to get used to.

Bella's room was empty so he opened Gus'.

The three of them were in bed, snuggled up against each other.
Gus was asleep, his arm over Bella, while Justin hugged Gus from behind. His lover wasn't asleep though. The minute he realized Brian was at the door, he put a finger to his lips and slowly moved off the bed.

Brian stepped inside, leaned against the wall and waited for Justin to come to him.

"Hey," Justin whispered as he slipped his arms around Brian's waist, leaning up for a kiss.

"Hey yourself," Brian whispered back, returning the kiss. "How is he?"

Justin looked back towards the bed. "He's doing a little better. Today's just been a little...difficult for him."

Brian closed his eyes. It was still so hard to believe. He had lost one of his best friends...just like that.

He wasn't sure he'd ever be able to deal with it. But he had to be strong now, not only for Gus but for the rest of his family. Bella was still too young to understand death... and Justin... well, it was even more difficult for him, having known the two women for as long as he had.

It was heart-wrenching, Brian thought, watching people he cared about be put in that horrible box...being laid to rest...forever. It made him want to scream and curse everyone and everything.

Brian never wanted to feel like he did on that fateful day. And he was worried. Having to take care of Gus fulltime was something he had never planned for. Bella was enough in his mind.

Within the first week, Brian was able to move all of Gus' belongings into his home. He bought Gus a desk for his room, along with a stereo and computer. He wanted his son to have everything. Justin was being very supportive and never questioned anything Brian did. He too, was incredibly worried about Gus.

Gus didn't seem to mind the move, but then again, he had no choice.

The day of the funeral, Brian held onto Gus with one hand and Justin with the other. Justin let his tears flow freely but Brian wouldn't cry. And Gus followed suit. He had a death grip on Brian's hand watching the coffins being lowered into the ground, but he never cried...not once.

He kept it all in until they got home. Then, he held onto Brian and bawled his eyes out. And for hours, Brian held his son and let his own tears fall. Justin gave them their privacy and shed his own tears in the privacy of their bedroom with a confused Bella never leaving his side.

After a week, Justin resorted to begging and bribery to get Gus to go back to school, so that life could return to some semblance of normalcy.  Not that things would ever again be normal after what had happened.

"Are you hungry?" Justin whispered, his hand massaging Brian's back.

Brian shook his head. "How was your day?"

Justin sighed. "I didn't get anything done today because Gus' teacher called me to come and get him."

"What happened?"

"He got into a fight."

Brian's eyes narrowed. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Justin pulled Brian out of the room when he heard the volume of his tone increase. "I'm telling you now."

Brian raked a hand through his hair, frustrated. "Fuck!" he exclaimed. "What happened?"

Justin rubbed Brian's arm. "I think you should ask him yourself."

Brian nodded. He pulled Justin into his arms and hugged him close, planted a kiss on his temple. "Thanks for taking care of him."

"He's one of us now." Justin replied softly.

Brian sighed. "Yeah, he is,"

Brian took it upon himself to make dinner that night. Bella was not feeling well and being more miserable than usual. Brian suspected she was coming down with the flu.

While Justin gave her a sponge bath, Brian started on dinner. It was nothing fancy, just some veggies and baked chicken Justin had already prepared. All Brian had to do was put everything in the oven.

He left the food to cook and went up to have a talk with Gus. He knocked on the door but heard no answer, so he knocked again. No answer. The door was open so he walked in.
Gus was on his computer, typing and looked up when the door opened.

"Didn't you hear me knock?" Brian asked him.

He shrugged and went back to typing.

"Turn that off, Gus." Brian demanded.

"But Dad!" Gus protested.

Brian gave him a look that said he was not joking. Gus quickly shut down the system and turned around in his chair to face his father.

"What?" Gus asked, annoyed. He folded his arms defiantely across his chest.

Brian fought the urge to scold him for his attitude. Instead, he camly asked, "Are you going to tell me what happened at school today?"

"Nothing happened!"

"Gus," Brian leaned forward. "You're not in trouble or anything."

Gus snorted. "I can't believe Justin told you."

"Why shouldn't he tell me?" Brian asked. "He cares about you. We both do."

Gus looked towards the door.

Brian leaned back on the chair. "I'm not going to ask you again, Gus."

"Fine!" Gus muttered. "This stupid kid was annoying me...so I hit him."

Brian wasn't sure what to say. He hadn't expected Gus to be the one to start the fight. And, from what he understood, with a smaller kid too. If Lindsay were alive... Brian squeezed his eyes shut when that thought popped into his head. He needed to make good decisions now...for Gus' sake...for his own sake.

"Then what happened?" Brian asked.

"After I hit him?"

"Yeah."

Gus shrugged. "He fell to the floor and Mr. Donatelli came rushing towards us. He pulled me off Freddy, I think that's the kid's name." He paused. "He sent me to the Dean's office. I got a stupid lecture and then Justin came and got me."

Brian sighed. "Did you tell him you were sorry?"

"Freddy?"

"And Justin."

Gus shook his head. "Why should I apologize to Justin? I didn't hit him."

"No, but you'll say you're sorry," Brian demanded. "He had to leave a lot of important things to come and get you."

Gus nodded.

"What do you think your punishment should be?"

Gus opened his mouth wide.

Brian shrugged as he raised both hands. "You can't not expect to be punished."

"But I already got a two-day suspension!" Gus protested.

"If I let you get away with this Gus, you have to promise me it's not going to happen again."

"I promise," Gus said quickly.

Brian pulled him into his arms. "Ok." He kissed his forehead. "Are you ok? Did you hurt yourself?"

Gus shook his head. "My fingers hurt like hell after I hit him."

Brian rubbed at the knuckles gently. "Ready for dinner?"

Gus shook his head. "I'm not hungry."

"Alright." Brian got up and made his way to the door. "Do you have any home-work?"

"No,"

As Brian walked into his bedroom, he wondered if he had handled that well. He knew he had just let him off the hook, but he couldn't bear to punish him...especially after all he'd been through already.

Justin was on their bed, propped up on his side patting Bella to sleep. Brian sat on the edge of the bed and leaned down to plant a kiss on the back of Justin's neck.

Justin smiled. "How did it go?"

Brian rubbed his eyes. "I don't understand why he hit that kid."

Justin sat up and faced Brian. "The Dean told me he's giving Gus a second chance because of everything that's happened."

"Yeah?"

"The two-day suspension is not going to go on his permanent record."

Brian groaned. "What am I doing wrong?"

Justin grabbed one of Brian's hands in his own. "You're a good father," Justin assured him. "This is not your fault, Brian. Once everything settles down, it'll be okay."

Brian pulled Justin into his arms, leaned down and kissed him. Justin wrapped his arms around Brian's neck to prolong the kiss.

Justin moaned. "You taste so good."

Brian sucked on Justin's lower lip. "So do you."

Bella let out a tiny cough. Brian pulled away to lean over her, making sure she was alright.

"She'll be ok," Justin whispered when he saw the worried look cross Brian's face.

Brian pulled him back into his arms for another long and lazy kiss.

The smell of burning food brought them back to earth.

"Fuck!" Brian muttered, as he got off the bed. "I forgot about dinner!"

Justin laughed, watching him race down the stairs.

Bella coughed in her sleep again, turning Justin's attention to her.

Although the food was slightly burnt, it was still tasty. Brian and Justin sat facing each other as they ate.

"So have you decided how you're going to punish him?" Justin asked.

Brian chewed on a red pepper before answering. "He's not going to let it happen again."

Justin's eyebrows rose in confusion. "What does that mean?"

"It means he's not going to get punished."

Justin put his knife and fork down. "Brian,..."

"I know what you're going to say but I really don't want to hear it."

"You can't let him get away with this."

Brian took a sip of his wine. "He's not going to 'get away' with anything. Just leave it alone."

Justin stared at him for a full minute before attacking his food again as Gus was coming down the stairs.

"Hungry?" Brian asked him.

"Yeah." Gus said.

Brian got up and prepared his plate while he got settled at the table.

"Justin?" Gus whispered.

"Hmmm?" Justin leaned closer to hear what he had to say.

"I'm sorry, ok?"

Justin smiled and squeezed Gus' hand gently. "I love you, ok?"

The three finished their dinner in silence until the doorbell rang. Justin was already up so he said, "I'll get it!"

When he opened his front door, he got the surprise of his life.

"Hello, Justin. Is Brian here?"

It was Eddie with a large bunch of flowers in her hands.

"What are you doing here?" Justin spat out angrily.

Eddie's grip on the flowers tightened. "I heard about...your loss. I just wanted to make sure Brian was ok."

"He's fine," Justin muttered. "I'll tell him you dropped by."

Justin made an attempt to shut the door in her face but she pushed it back. "Wait," she said. "Can you give these to him?" She handed Justin the flowers.

He took them from her and shut the door. He knew he was being mean, but he wasn't ready to deal with her right now. He had enough on his plate at the moment.

"Who was that?" Brian asked when Justin came back up the stairs.

Justin mumbled something incoherent under his breath.

"What?" Brian laughed.

Justin looked at Brian, a guilty expression evident on his face. He sighed and handed Brian the flowers. "It was Eddie," he said.

Brian raised an eyebrow. "So why didn't she come up?"

Justin shrugged. "I didn't offer..."

Brian glared at him before racing down the stairs, two at a time. He ran down the front steps, his eyes searching the vicinity for her. "Eddie!" he called.

Nothing.

"Fuck!" Brian exclaimed.

As he was going back into the house, he saw her, sitting on the neighbour's steps. As he walked closer to her, he realized she was crying.

He kneeled in front of her. "Eddie."

She immediately started wiping at the tears when she saw him. "Oh! Brian!"

He sat next to her and pulled her into his arms. "Are you ok?"

She sniffed. "Me? I'm fine. I came to make sure you were ok."

Brian smiled. "I'm doing alright. I'm glad you came."

Eddie pulled away to look up at him, her blue eyes shining. "I was afraid I might get you in trouble."

"Trouble?"

"With...Justin," Eddie explained.

"He found out a while back," Brian told her. "We haven't really talked about it though...but she's my daughter too, Eddie, and I want her to know you."

Eddie started crying again. Brian pulled her back into his arms and tried to comfort her.

The front door opened. "Who is that?" a man asked.

Brian turned to look at who was speaking. It was his neighbour, Jim. "It's Brian Kinney, Jim, from next door."

Jim nodded. "Everything ok?"

"Fine," he replied. Pulling Eddie up with him, he said, "Let's go check on Bella. She's not feeling well tonight." He waved to Jim, "Night."

When they walked into the kitchen, Justin and Gus were cleaning up. Justin said nothing, continuing to load the dishwasher.

"Gus," Brian said. "I'd like you to meet Eddie. This is my son, Gus."

Gus dried his hands before shaking Eddie's. "Nice to meet you."

Eddie smiled. "He looks so much like you, Brian."

Brian grinned and winked at his son. "He wishes."

Gus snorted but smiled.

"Justin?" Brian said softly. "Don't you have anything to say?"

Justin glared at Brian. "No."

Bella's cries interrupted Brian and kept him from saying anything else. As Justin attempted to go upstairs to check on her, Brian stopped him. "I'll go. Come on, Eddie."

Justin couldn't believe Brian would do this to him, especially in his own house!

In their bedroom, Bella was sobbing uncontrollably. Brian picked her up and started rocking her gently, kissing at her cheek. "What's wrong sweetie? Daddy's here."

The roaring stopped when she realized she was in safe arms but the tears still rolled down her pink cheeks.

"Don't cry, piglet," Brian pleaded. "Daddy's got a surprise for you."

When he turned her around, she was face to face with Eddie. Bella wiped at her wet cheek with the back of her hand and blinked. "Gwammy?" she asked softly.

Eddie smiled at her. "Hey Sunshine."

Bella outstretched her arms and Eddie took the hint. She kissed her grand-daughter's forehead. "I heard you're sick?"

Bella nodded as she snuggled up against Eddie's chest.

Brian looked over Eddie's shoulder and saw Justin standing there. Their eyes met.

Leaning down to kiss Bella's cheek, Brian said, "Why don't you put her to bed?"

Eddie nodded and made her way to the door. Seeing Justin there, she paused hesistantly before continuing. At the door, she stopped and allowed Justin to kiss Bella goodnight before taking the baby to her room.

Justin closed the door behind him and made his way over to Brian.

"I guess I was wrong, huh?" Justin asked quietly, his eyes locked onto Brian's.

Brian raised an eyebrow. "They're good for each other."

Justin nodded. "We'll see."

Brian pulled him into his arms and planted a wet kiss on his cheek. "We're good for each other too."

Justin slipped his arms around Brian's neck. "Are we?"

"Yeah,"

"No doubts?"

"None,"

Justin laughed. "Liar."

Brian pulled Justin closer and leaned down to inhale his lover's scent.

"When was the last time we fucked?" Brian murmured as he rubbed his chin against Justin's silky hair.

Justin groaned. "Too long." He tugged a hard nipple into his mouth. "Think we can risk it?"

"Bella should keep her busy for a while."

"And Gus?"

"He's in his room."

"Ok, you've talked me into it."

Brian kissed him. "I love you."

Justin smiled up at him. "Love you too."

What more could either of them ask for?

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