Small Town
Part 15
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The drive to
But Justin had Daphne, who he’d confided in right away, needing the
constant support of his best friend and wasn’t let down when she provided
it, unconditionally. And Brian
found
Plus now, they had each other. That was the best part of it all.
Brian parked the jeep behind the diner and they got out and walked hand in hand towards the front door. As soon as they opened the door and stepped inside they were bombarded by a shrilling voice.
“Brian, Angel, get your asses over here.”
“Hey, Deb,” Brian said.
“Hi, Debbie,” Justin said with a huge smile. He’d really been looking forward to seeing the flamboyant woman again. She made one hell of a first impression.
They sat down across from each other in the same booth they’d been in the last time they were there. What Justin didn’t know was that it was ‘Brian’s’ booth. His and his friends. It had been since he’d started coming to the place a few years ago.
Debbie stopped beside the booth and said, “You’ll never guess who’s…”
“Brrrrriiiiiaaaannnnn,” came the loud whine from the back of the restaurant, cutting Deb off and causing pretty much everyone in the diner to cringe.
“Here,” the woman finished, with a roll of her eyes. She wondered if her nephew would ever get a fucking clue and grow the hell up. She looked back at him, standing by the entrance to the kitchen holding an overflowing drink in one hand and a plate that was slowly dripping gravy onto the floor in the other, and shook her head, answering her own question with a big, fat NO.
“Let me guess, Michael,” Brian said sarcastically, silently dreading the fact that he had decided to bring Justin there for dinner. It’s not that he was ashamed of the blond in any way, far from it. He just didn’t want to deal with the shit that he knew would be coming from Mikey. He took a deep breath and released it, preparing himself mentally for the battle ahead.
“Brian, hey, how are you? I haven’t seen you in like, forever.” Michael said, yipping like a little dog as he approached the booth and sat the drink and plate down in front of him.
“I saw you in March, Mikey. That’s not that long ago. And I can see that you’ve survived the separation just fine,” Brian said with a smirk.
Not even paying attention to the fact that Justin was sitting there, Michael slid into the booth, brushing up against the blond and continued to talk. “Yeah, well, it seemed like forever to me. So, what have you been up to? How’s work? Anything new happening around here?”
“Michael, slow down, you’re gonna give yourself a heart attack if you don’t calm down.” Brian looked at Justin, who was just watching the interaction between him and his friend wordlessly. He looked like he was following a tennis match the way his head kept moving back and forth between them. He couldn’t believe that Michael hadn’t even noticed the man that he was sitting right beside. The guy was amazing, and not in a positive, life affirming way.
As if he’d suddenly been burned, Michael jumped in his seat, finally noticing that someone was sitting next to him. “Who the hell are you?”
“Gee, Mikey, have any manners?” Brian asked, annoyed with the way he was speaking to Justin.
“Brian, who is THIS?” the obnoxious man asked, emphasizing his last word as if he were speaking about something distasteful.
“Michael, meet Justin. Justin, this is Michael.” Then he looked back at his friend and said with a smirk, “Happy?”
Letting his eyes roam over the blond beside him, and not noticing his obvious shudder from being dissected so disapprovingly, Michael replied, while locking his gaze onto the bright blue eyes of the man next to him, “No.”
Justin felt Michael’s ice cold stare shoot right through him and his gut wrenched from the hatred he felt emanating from the whiny little man. He wondered how Brian knew him and how the fuck he tolerated him. He was making his stomach turn and he’d only met the guy seconds ago.
“Fuck off, Mikey. Don’t give me any shit. Justin is with me, he’s…well, he’s my boyfriend.”
Both of the men sitting across from Brian turned at the exact same moment to stare at him. Both of them wide-eyed and shocked. Justin because it was the first time that he’d heard Brian say those incredible words and Michael because it was also the first time he’d ever heard his friend say those words, and he wasn’t very happy that they weren’t about HIM.
“Brian,” Justin purred with a beaming smile and reached his hand across the table to instantly be taken by the older man who was sporting a dazzling smile of his own.
“Brian,” Michael whined harshly, instantly halting the wonderful feelings that were coursing through Brian with the sound of his irritating voice.
“What, Mikey?” Brian asked, his voice straining as he tried his best to keep his temper under control.
“What the fuck do you mean boyfriend? Since WHEN do you do boyfriends? You’re not. You don’t. You can’t,” the gimpy little man droned out.
Closing his eyes and silently counting to three, then opening them and looking directly into his friends dark, brown eyes so that the man would make no mistake about the seriousness of his words, Brian said calmly, “I am, I did and yes, I can.” He let his gaze linger a little longer, his intense hazel eyes burning into his friends, making him understand.
“But, but, I…we…you were
supposed…”
“Michael,” Brian said exasperated, “You know it was never going to happen. I’ve told you that too many times to count.”
“I just thought that maybe, in time, you’d realize that WE were meant to be together. Us, not you and HIM,” Michael said, turning back towards Justin and almost spitting his last word out at the innocent man.
“Well, you thought wrong.” Brian tightened his hold on Justin’s hand, rubbing his thumb soothingly across the soft, pale skin and repeated, “Justin’s with me and you’re just going to have to get used to that, Mikey.”
Deb had overhead the entire thing as she made her way around the diner, serving the customers with her usual flair, but always having one ear on the conversation between her nephew and Brian. She shook her head, feeling sorry for Michael. Even if the kid was a royal pain in the ass, he was still family, and she loved him and didn’t like seeing him hurt. She looked over at him, sitting beside the blond angel that had obviously captured Brian’s heart and could almost hear his breaking heart.
She knew that Michael loved Brian, but she also knew that Brian had made it perfectly clear to him many times that he was only interested in being friends. He’d never given Michael even a hint of the possibility that there would ever be more. But her nephew, dense as he was, chose to ignore the man and form his own little fantasies about the two of them someday being a couple. And now look where it had gotten him. Broken hearted and by the look on his face, still not paying attention to what Brian was telling him.
“Will the fucking kid ever learn?” she asked herself, moving over to their booth to take their orders. “Hey, Angel, how you doing sweetheart?”
“Um, great, Deb, thanks. And you?” the blond replied apprehensively. He heard Michael breathing heavily beside him and saw that his focus was still fixed on Brian. He wasn’t sure if he should remain quiet or not.
“I’m great, couldn’t be better,” she answered with a smile, then looked at her nephew, bowing her head slightly forward, trying to catch his eye, but not succeeding as the man didn’t seem to notice that anyone else was in the busy diner besides Brian. She decided to give it a try anyway. “Michael?” she said softly, but got no reply. “Michael,” she tried again, but still nothing. Her eyes shifted pleadingly to Brian’s and the man sighed heavily.
“Mikey,” Brian said flatly and the sad little man instantly came back to life.
“Yeah?” he said in his usually high-pitched manner.
“There, see, he’s fine,” he told Debbie, motioning with his hand towards her nephew.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Great. Just perfect,” Michael answered as if nothing had ever happened. The only clue that hinted at a problem was the fact that Michael hadn’t turned his head even once towards Justin. He acted as if he, Brian and Deb were the only ones in the conversation. “Well, I gotta get back to work. Hey, how about going to Babylon later, Brian? Me, Ted and Emmett are meeting outside at nine. Come with us.”
Knowing what his friend was doing and not very happy about it, Brian said, “I don’t think so.”
“Oh, come on, it’ll be fun. Please, Brian, we haven’t been there in ages,” the weasely little man whined as he stood beside the booth.
Looking towards Justin he raised his eyebrows in question of what he wanted to do and the younger man just shrugged his shoulders, not having a clue as to what Babylon was. Turning back to Michael, Brian replied, “Fine, Mikey, WE’LL meet you there at nine.”
“We?”
“Me and Justin,” Brian said, raising his hand from the table that was still holding the blonds.
“Oh,” Michael replied defeatedly.
“Bye, Mikey,” Brian said meekly, having surpassed his limit for the man’s pissy attitude.
“Yeah, bye, see you at nine, Brian…oh, and, uh, Jason?”
“Justin,” the blond corrected with a fake but sweet smile.
“Right, Justin,” Michael repeated, saying the man’s name like it was a foul word.
“Michael,” Brian warned, his eyes glaring dangerously.
The man said nothing, because there was nothing more he could say without setting Brian off, so he turned and headed back to the kitchen.
Brian turned towards Justin and said, “I’m sorry.”
“Hey, it’s not your fault that the guy is obviously crazy about you. Who wouldn’t be?”
“Would you be?” the older man said with a sly smile.
“I would definitely be,” Justin returned, his eyes sparkling brightly.
“Hmm-hmph.” Debbie cleared her throat.
“Oh, hey, Deb…I forgot you were there,” Brian said, blushing slightly at having an intimate moment overheard by the woman.
“Well don’t mind me. I just fucking work here,” she said with a genuine smile. “So, what can I get ‘ya, Angel?”
Still a little put off by the woman’s name for him, Justin blushed sweetly then ordered the same thing as he’d had the last time. It was the best hamburger he’d ever had and he hoped it would be just as good again.
“And you?” Debbie asked Brian, sounding a little annoyed.
“Usual, Deb, but hold the attitude.”
“I’m sorry, Brian. I know it’s not your fault that my nephew is sitting back there with a broken heart. The little shit just never listens.”
“Debbie, I’ve never said anything to make him think that we would get together,” Brian said defensively.
“I know, I know,” she replied, nodding her head emphatically. “It’s just that, well, I hate to see him hurting.” The woman gave a weak smile then left to put in their order.
“Brian, I don’t want to cause problems between you and your friends,” Justin stated.
“You aren’t, trust me. Michael has always had a thing for me, no matter how hard I’ve tried to discourage it. It’s not your fault. He just…he wishes that it was him instead of you that was doing this,” the brunet finished, holding up their linked hands.
Smiling broadly, the blond said, “Well, I’m glad it’s me.”
“Yeah, so am I,” Brian returned, and he really was.