Just Like Heaven

Chapter 3

"You know, it's really unnerving when you watch me eat like that." Justin said as Brian continued to stare at him.

Brian grinned. "It's rude to eat in front of someone without offering them any, Sunshine."

Justin huffed, un-amused. "Like you could eat it anyway." Becoming curious, he asked, "Do ghosts get hungry?"

Brian shrugged. "Not really. I do have this craving for lemon bars though." He laughed at the thought. "Deb would love that. She was always sneaking a couple in my takeout to try to fatten me up."

Justin smiled. He enjoyed when Brian reminisced about himself. Brian said that he didn't used to talk so much, but now that he couldn't do anything else, he seemed to be making up for lost time.

"Deb is your friend, Michael's, mom, right?" Justin asked, making sure he remembered correctly.

"Yeah, more of a mother to me than mine was." Not wanting to discuss his mother, Brian returned to the previous topic. "Maybe tomorrow, we can go by the diner and you can eat a lemon bar for me."

"Is that a date, Brian?" Justin asked, a smug grin on his face. He knew full well what Brian thought of dates.

"If I did dates, and I don't, I'd at least expect you to put out."

"Have you ever been on a date?" Justin asked.

"Just once." Brian finally admitted.

"What happened? He end up with salad on his face?"

Brian grinned in return. "No, I ended up fucking the waiter in the restroom."

Justin mulled that over for a moment. "I don't suppose I have to worry about that, so… it's a date."

"You going to put out?"

Justin couldn't help but laugh. "What did you have in mind?"

Justin's laughter faded as Brian moved closer and whispered seductively, "I'm sure I can come up with something, Sunshine."

~ * ~

"How old were you the first time you went to Liberty, Brian." Justin asked as the lay facing each other on the bed.

"Fourteen. That's when I met Michael and his mom worked at the diner. How about you?"

"Seventeen. I was hoping to get laid, but I chickened out."

"That doesn't sound like you, Sunshine. Maybe you just didn't meet the right guy."

"Actually, there was this one guy… he was coming out of Babylon. God, he was gorgeous."

"What happened?"

"I was hiding in the shadows across the street, too afraid to come out where anyone would see me. He got into a Jeep with his friends and left." Justin grinned ruefully. "Not much of a story, huh?"

Brian got a cocky grin on his face. "I used to drive a Jeep, Sunshine. And I was at Babylon almost every night."

Justin's eyes grew huge, then he suddenly leaped out of the bed and ran to the closet.

"Justin?" Brian called in concern. He watched in confusion as Justin pulled a cardboard box from the closet and began to riffle through what looked like old sketchpads.

"Here, it's this one." Justin finally said, pulling a pad out of the stack. "See, I put the year on the front."

Brian glanced at the year then watched as Justin flipped through the pages, finally stopping at one.

"I used to sketch that guy I saw and fantasize what it would have been like if I'd been brave enough to talk to him." Justin laid the pad on the bed so Brian could see the picture he'd drawn.

"Handsome devil." Brian grinned, tongue in cheek.

"Looks like we just missed meeting back then." Justin said.

"Looks like."

~ * ~

"So, how did you like the lemon bars?" Brian asked as they reclined on the bed.

"Just as great as you promised."

"Seems my second date went a lot better than my first ."

"Practice makes perfect." Justin replied.

"Time for you to pay up then." Brian replied with a leer.

Justin looked at Brian suspiciously. "What sort of sneaky thoughts are going through that ghostly mind of yours?"

"Get undressed and I'll show you."

"You're serious, aren't you?"

"Hey, I told you I expect my date to put out. Now, let's see some skin."

Justin's curiosity got the better of him, so he stripped and stretched out on the bed provocatively. Brian's lust filled gaze was well worth the slight embarrassment Justin felt.

Brian moved as close as he could without actually occupying the same space as Justin. Forget the lemon bars, he wished he could taste the delicacy lying next to him.

"Stroke yourself." Brian whispered, watching raptly as Justin began to slowly run his hand down his chest then over his cock. "Slowly," he said softly.

Justin's stomach fluttered as Brian put a hand over his, moving in time with Justin's rhythm.

"Keep it steady, Sunshine….watch my hand move with yours… press just a little harder, now ease off."

Justin felt a thrill run through him as Brian continued to whisper directions. "Don't close your eyes…. run your finger over your slit."

Justin moaned as Brian had him vary the speed and the intensity. Just as he felt his orgasm approach, Brian would ease him back again. He didn't know how much more of this he could take. "Brian…"

"Faster… "

"Oh, god!"

"Come in my hand, Sunshine."

"Fuck, yes!"

Brian licked his lips as cum spurted out, covering Justin's stomach and chest. When tired, blue eyes found his again, Brian smirked. "That was fucking hot."

Justin chuckled. "Best fucking hand-job I ever had."

Brian watched quietly until Justin's steady breathing told him the younger man had fallen asleep. "Best one I ever had too, Sunshine."

~ * ~

Justin slowed down when he saw the police car, lights flashing, parked outside the entrance to the loft. Suddenly, Brian was standing beside him.

"Mikey's really done it this time." Brian said.

"Huh?"

"He used the key I gave him to get into the loft."

Justin realized what must have happened. "I changed the alarm code."

"He's been yelling at the cops ever since they burst in on him trying to disarm it."

"Shit! I take it you'd rather not have him arrested?" Justin asked as he sprinted up the stairs.

"I'm sure Deb's boyfriend could straighten it out, but he doesn't mean any harm. Does make me wonder who rented my place out though."

"Let's worry about that later." Justin said as he came into view of the loft and the still protesting Michael.

"I tell you, this is my best friend's place. I was just checking on things for him." Michael was explaining, yet again, to one of the officers.

"Uh, officer? I'm Justin Taylor; I live here. What's going on?" He noticed that Michael's hands were cuffed behind him.

One of the officers checked her notepad to verify the name and nodded. "Could I see some ID, Mr. Taylor?"

"Of course, Officer."

"Who the fuck are you?" Michael spat out, then turned to the officer checking Justin's ID. "Who the fuck is he? He doesn't live here. This is Brian's loft. I've never seen this kid before."

The officer passed the ID back. "It checks out." She told her partner, then explained the situation to Justin, which he basically already knew from Brian.

"What the fuck are you telling him for? Why won't anybody listen to me?" Michael ranted, then turned to Justin. "You're not going to get away with this. You can't just move into somebody's home while they're…gone… and take over."

"Come on, Novotny. Let's take a nice, quiet ride downtown where you can tell the sergeant all about it."

Justin took a deep breath as the officer led Michael down the stairs, struggling and ranting all the way. He turned back as the remaining officer spoke. "You'll need to come to the station to file a report, Mr. Taylor."

"Uh, officer, I don't really want to press charges."

"The man was caught breaking into your apartment," the officer reminded him.

"I know, but you see, I've only lived here a few weeks." Justin explained. "That guy, Michael, he was really good friends with the man that lived here before and I don't think he's quite accepted that his friend is, well, gone. You know?"

The officer nodded sympathetically. "What would you like for us to do? We can't hold him for long without charges being filed."

"Uh, did he use a key to get in?"

"Yes, we confiscated it as evidence."

"Well, if you could make sure he doesn't get the key back, you could just let him go. He won't be able to get back in to bother me." Justin wished he was as confident of that as he tried to sound.

"If you're sure…"

Justin nodded.

"If he bothers you again, you may want to consider getting a restraining order." The officer suggested.

"Thanks. Hopefully, it won't come to that."

Justin slid the loft door closed as the office disappeared down the stairs.

"You're going to need more than just one restraining order." Brian said. "Try about a half-dozen."

"What?"

Brain grinned. "As soon as Michael gets loose, he's going straight to the rest of the gang. I expect within a couple of hours, maybe less, the whole horde will be pounding down the door to find out what's going on."

"And you just now decide to tell me this?" Justin complained.

"It might be a good time to find out who did rent my loft out, Sunshine. If it was any of the gang, Michael would have known about it."

"Just great." Justin said. "I'll call my realtor and see if she can find out."

"Good luck, Sunshine. You're going to need it."

Justin placed the call to his mother, then noticed that Brian had disappeared again. Just what he needed; to face Brian's family by himself.

~ * ~

Justin gave a resigned sigh as he glanced around the room which seemed to be getting smaller as more of Brian's 'family' showed up. Fortunately, they seemed to have forgotten about him as he sat at the kitchen counter with Brian's four-year-old son, Gus.

"If none of us put the loft up for rent, then who did?" Lindsay, Gus' mom asked.

"Did anyone check with Cynthia? She's been handling a lot of Brian's affairs since he's…" Ted said.

"I couldn't get a hold of her." Melanie, Gus' other mom said. "I can't believe Brian would have left her instructions to rent the place out though. He's so anal about his stuff."

"Maybe Blondie heard what happened and just decided to move in." Michael said.

Justin didn't think too much of Brian's taste in best-friends.

"He's a little overly protective." Brian said, popping in on the other side of Gus.

Justin glanced at Gus, who seemed to be engrossed in his drawing. "Do they always argue this much?" he asked Brian.

"They're actually letting you off fairly easy." Brian replied. "Must be that honest face of yours, Sunshine"

Justin rolled his eyes. "I wish Mom would call back and tell me what's going on. I feel like an interloper here."

"What's a 'loper?" Gus asked, looking up from his paper.

"Umm, someone who doesn't belong." Justin said hesitantly. "Does it bother you that I'm living in your daddy's place, Gus?"

Gus looked puzzled for a moment. "I like you here," he finally said, then began drawing again.

Brian chuckled. "You can't beat that for an endorsement, Sunshine."

Melanie had been looking over Justin's lease agreement and finally laid it on the coffee table with a resigned sigh. "It looks legit. It's an open-ended, month to month lease by a reputable agency."

"So who the fuck told the realtor to lease the place?" Debbie asked.

"If Mr. Taylor's agent can't find anything out, we may have to wait until tomorrow to get to the bottom of this." Melanie said.

Justin sighed and put his head in his hands. "Tell me they aren't planning to spend the night."

"I want to spend the night. Daddy lets me sleep in the big bed." Gus piped up. "Do you sleep in the big bed too, Sunshine?"

Before Justin could answer, Michael stomped over. "When's your agent going to call back? I've got better things to do than sit around here all night."

"Feel free to leave at any time." Justin said.

"Michael, it doesn't sound like Justin has done anything wrong. I'm sure we'll be able to clear this up tomorrow." Emmett said, trying to sooth Michael's ruffled feathers.

"Yeah, then this free-loader can pack his shit up and move somewhere else." Michael snapped.

"That's a quarter, Uncle Mikey." Gus said.

Michael grumbled, but pulled out a quarter and gave it to Gus for the 'swear jar', then stomped back into the living room and threw himself into a chair.

A knock at the door put a temporary halt to the conversations going on. Before Justin could move, Ted answered the door. There was an audible gasp as Jennifer walked in with a dour-faced older woman.

"Fuck, I should have known." Brian said angrily, walking toward the front door.

"Justin?" Jennifer called hesitantly, looking around for her son. When Justin joined her, she continued. "This is the loft owner's mother---"

Before Jennifer could say another word, the family snapped out of its surprised state and swooped down on them. There was a barrage of incomprehensible shouting as everyone talked at once.

Debbie's voice finally drowned out everyone else's. "I can't believe even you'd be this heartless, Joan."

"Ms. Novotny, how I handle my son's affairs are none of your concern. I cannot believe that civilized people would barge into this poor young man's home and question his legitimacy in this manner." Joan replied haughtily.

"You have no right." Michael said. "Brian didn't leave you in charge of anything."

"You've got that fucking right." Brian said.

"My son left no specific instruction to be followed in such an eventuality. Until such time as the situation changes, I have every right to proceed as I have." Joan replied.

"I'm afraid she's right." Melanie said. "Brian left instructions for his business and his personal finances to be taken care of, but he didn't cover this."

"You saw a chance to make some money at your son's expense and grabbed it. You've got to be the most cold-hearted bitch I've ever run across." Debbie huffed.

"Isn't' there anything we can do to get rid of him?" Michael complained, pointing a finger in Justin's direction.

"Not until such time as it becomes necessary to read Brian's will." Melanie said.

"Mel!" Lindsay gasped. "Don't even think that."

"Probably can't wait to cash in that life-insurance policy, can you, Mel?" Brian said.

Vic noticed that Gus was watching the adults with avid interest and decided someone needed to distract the little boy from the heated discussion taking place. Sitting at the kitchen counter, Vic engaged the preschooler in conversation.

Debbie gave Joan a disgusted expression. "I'll bet if Brian hadn't left Michael in charge of pulling the plug, we'd already be laying that poor boy in the ground."

"I can't see what you hope to accomplish by dragging this out. It's obvious that Brian won't be regaining consciousness." Joan said primly.

"Wait a minute!" Brian exclaimed. "I'm not already dead?"

Justin was wondering the same thing. "Brian isn't dead?"

"No, sweetie. He was in an accident and has been in a coma for almost three months now." Emmett said gently. "You couldn't have known that though."

Justin was beginning to understand why Michael and the rest were so upset. If Brian hadn't been standing right next to him, he would have felt uncomfortable about continuing to live here.

Joan had apparently had enough of Brian's so-called family. "Now that you understand the situation, I believe that it would be in all our best interest if you were to leave."

"I'm not leaving until he's gone." Michael said, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at Justin.

Justin thought Michael looked more like a four-year-old than Gus did.

"I don't mind you being here, Sunshine." Brian said. "A few more weeks and I might actually raise your level of cleanliness to something resembling civilized."

Justin glared at Brian then at Michael. "I've paid my month's rent. I'm not going anywhere."

"Come on, Michael." Debbie said, grabbing her son's arm. "I don't think we have to worry about Brian's loft. It looks like Justin's taking good care of it."

"I'm sure if…when… Brian wakes up, Justin will understand and move out, won't you, baby?" Emmett asked.

"Of course." Justin replied.

"See?" Debbie said, half-dragging Michael out the door. "There's not a problem."

The rest of the family filed out behind Debbie, most of them sympathetic for Justin's awkward situation. Jennifer was the last to leave, after making sure that Justin was okay.

Finally alone, Justin heaved a sigh of relief and turned to Brian. "I don't think I'll need those restraining orders after all."

Brian smiled grimly. "I should have guessed it was Joanie that was renting my loft out. Either her or my fucking sister, Claire."

"Yeah, well, it turned out okay." Justin said, walking into the kitchen. "After all, if I hadn't moved in, who would you have had to harass all this time?"

Brian smirked back.

"I guess Mysterious Marilyn was right, you aren't dead." Justin said. "This is really kind of weird."

"And it wasn't before?"

"Well, everyone talks about ghosts and being haunted, but you're not really a ghost…I'm not sure what you are."

"Hot?"

"Besides that." Justin laughed. "The question is, if you're still alive, how do we get you back into your body and get you to wake up?"

"That's not what your soothsayer said the question was." Brian reminded him.

"Well, I still don't understand why I'm the only one that can see you. And if you're not even a ghost, why can I see you?"

Justin pulled out a bottle of water then stopped to stare at the fridge door. Someone had stuck the picture Gus had drawn up. "Is this supposed to be me?"

Brian smiled fondly as he looked at his son's drawing. "Yellow hair, blue eyes, big smile - I think he captured you perfectly, Sunshine."

"Uh, Brian, you're the only one, besides my grandma, that calls me that."

"Yeah?"

"Gus called me that, just before my mom showed up. And now this…"

They both stared at the childish scrawl across the bottom of the picture; Sunshine.

"Maybe I'm not the only one that sees you."

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