Enjoying Life Together

Breakfast with the Gang

It had been two weeks since the picnic at Brian's which brought Brian and Justin together again. They were still maintaining their separate apartments so that Brian could have the freedom he no longer wanted and so that they could make sure they "did it right' this time. Nevertheless, they had spent every night together since the picnic, at one place or another. They had eaten breakfast and dinner together every day, and most lunches too, making up for lost time. This particular morning, Justin and Brian were scheduled to have breakfast at the diner with the guys. They were a little late, taking care of some last minute business. Mike and Ben, Emmett, and Ted were already there and the gang indulged in some ribald speculation, but Brian and Justin came in just a few minutes after the scheduled time.

"Here come the love birds now," Michael announced.

"Love birds, hah," Ted cracked, "More like Siamese twins." They snickered as Brian and Justin sat down in the booth.

"And where do you think we're joined?" Brian countered, "Siamese twins have to be physically joined somewhere."

The crowd roared. "Don't go there," Emmett called to Ted.

"Don't worry," Ted answered, "I wouldn't touch that one with a ten-inch pole."

"And just where would you find a ten-inch pole?" Brian joined in the hilarity.

The other guys had already ordered so Debbie came up and asked Brian and Justin, "The usual?"

"Yeah," they answered in unison.

Debbie wrote on her order pad and recited aloud at the same time: "Runny soft boiled eggs, bacon, hash browns, white toast slathered in butter, and tea for Sunshine; and eggs scrambled hard, ham, no potatoes, dry rye toast, and black coffee for Brian."

"Geez," she went on, "Don't you two agree on anything?"

Again they answered simultaneously. Brian said "Yeah we do," and Justin said "Au contraire."

Debbie laughed. "You guys don't even speak the same fuckin' language," she remarked as she hurried the orders to the kitchen.

Like the rest of the extended "family," Debbie was surprised at the reconciliation, but she was happy about it. She was especially pleased that Sunshine insisted she be the first to know, and they had come together to the diner the morning after the picnic to tell her. She was a second mother really to both of them. She had fallen in love with Sunshine, just after she had met him, when he appeared one night on her doorstep, scared to death and looking for Brian. She had been a very important part of his life since then and had been a great help to him and his mother time and again. Brian she had known for fifteen years or so since he and Michael got to be such great friends at school. She had disapproved of Brian's life style and they had had several run-ins through the years. She had just about given up on him when Sunshine came into his life. She had always loved Brian but now she was finally able to like him too. She hoped desperately that the relationship would work out. Once she had worried about the age difference but that didn't seem so important to her now. She thought they had a good chance but she had been disappointed before. Deep thinking took a toll on Debbie and she didn't notice right away when the orders were ready.

Justin finished his breakfast in the usual five minutes and rushed away to class. Brian left shortly after. Ted observed: "It seems like Brian isn't interested in being anywhere that Justin isn't. I would never have believed it, not in a million years."

"They are really in love with each other, and when they're not together, each of them feels absolutely alone." Emmett replied.

"I know that feeling, but I don't go around like I'm in a daze all the time," Michael remarked, smiling at Ben.

"Some people think you do," Ted laughed, "But love never gets the blame."

"It's just that we're veterans now. It will get easier for them in time," Ben said.

"If it lasts," Ted warned, "That's still Brian we're talking about."

"But it's a newer, gentler Brian," Emmett added, "He still makes his nasty remarks now and then, but it's obvious that he doesn't mean them. I hope this lasts but it is hard to believe Brian could change so much so quickly."

"I don't know," Ben said, "Most of us are looking for love, for some kind of relationship. Some of us find it, and some of us don't." He smiled at Mikey who smiled back. "Even if we don't find it," Ben continued, "We know what we're looking for and we keep on looking. Sometimes there are detours on the way but we keep on looking. Brian was only different in that he didn't know what he was looking for. From what I hear of his growing up, he didn't get much affection at home. He made the mistake of thinking that sex was love so he compensated with sex until eventually he thought it was sex he was looking for. Then that crazy kid came on the scene, and Brian wasn't ready for him. Brian fell in love before he knew that was what he wanted, or maybe even before he knew there was such a thing. I think he still doesn't understand what is going on with him any more than we do, but he knows he's happy now and he knows he wasn't before. Justin was kind of the opposite of Brian. Justin thought love was sex, so he thought he was in love before he really was, but it looks like the real thing to me now. I don't know if the Brian-Justin business will last but I think the change in Brian will, unless they have a particularly bitter break-up."

"We all knew how miserable both of them were when they weren't together. That could have been pretty bitter - what happened at the Rage party - but they weren't down on each other while they were separated." Mikey chimed in.

"It's a good sign," Ben agreed.

"Gee, that oriental mysticism really explains everything," Emmett said with a touch of humor in his voice.

"And you never even got to go to Tibet," Ted added.

"Shut up," Michael warned.

"Oriental mysticism," Melanie chimed in as she and Lindsey walked past the booth. "I thought all you guys talked about was sex."

"Maybe there's a lot of sex in oriental mysticism," Lindsey said.

"Actually we were talking about Brian and Justin. They were just here for breakfast," Mike told them, "And we're trying to figure out what's going on there."

"Well you're not going to get any help from us," Melanie informed them.

"No, we were surprised that they got back together, not because we didn't think they loved each other, but because they are both so stubborn. They were both so determined to suffer because each one thought he was at fault and that the other would never forgive him," Lindsey added, "Did we tell you how we found out they were back together? It was kind of funny. They deliberately came to see Gus separately about ten minutes apart. They acted uncomfortable together and we were certainly uncomfortable for them and for us, too. They asked for coffee and we left the room together and when we came back, there they were all lovey-dovey. Then they told us they had solved their differences the night before."

"I told them I knew something was going on," Melanie laughed, "Because Brian had acted like a real human being for twenty consecutive minutes. And Brian didn't come back with some nasty remark. He just smiled. Then I really knew that something was going on. The brat has tamed the bastard."

"Will it last though?" Emmett wondered.

Melanie responded; "You remember way back when they first got together and we had the pool on how long they'd last? I said about three hours. Well I'm going for the long term now, and you know I've never been a big fan of Brian's. This looks like the real thing to me."

"I hope so," Michael said, "But we'll just have to wait and hope, and we'll see." They were all hoping.

Return to Enjoying Life Together