Not Over Till It's Over

Brian was sitting in front of the blazing fake fireplace, vacantly staring trancelike at the flickering flames. He was alone, which was strange, and it was just after noon, which was even stranger. The sound of the door to the loft sliding open brought Brian out of his reverie.

"Is she gone?" he called to the kid who hadn't time yet to take his place on the floor next to Brian.

"She's gone," Justin smilingly confirmed snuggling down next to Brian. "Penelope and Abe left just a while ago. You saw Abe before he left, didn't you?"

"Yeah," Brian told him. "Abe stopped over to say 'goodbye.' I like Abelard. He is a nice kid and he brought some really good news. I guess you know Penelope decided she didn't want to come to Pitt, so it'll be Harvard probably, or Oxford maybe if she wins the Rhodes scholarship. I'd rather Oxford cause that's further away. Boston is far but we might still be able to hear her voice from there, and I'll bet that dog's yelps could easily get here from Harvard."

"I think you might be exaggerating just a trifle," Justin laughed., "But I guess not by much."

"Not at all," Brian stuck to his guns. "I didn't exaggerate at all, but there's no point in arguing about that. She's gone and that's that. Now as I recall, you said something about coming back here after she left and paying me back for getting me involved with that wicked witch and her hound. OK, you can start making me happy any time. I'm ready for anything."

"Bri," Justin said tentatively. "Maybe you aren't. I guess there's some stuff I ought to tell you before I start making you happy, but I promise, I'll try to make you happy afterwards."

"Trying to get out of it, I guess," Brian chortled. "Well it won't be hard to make me happy since Penelope is on her way back to Cincinnati or South Bend, or wherever she's going. It won't take much to make me happy at all. I'm pretty happy just to be sitting here with you. That's a good start."

"Yeah," Justin replied unconvincingly and Brian began to feel some unease at Justin's lack of enthusiasm for the kind of stuff that Justin was usually enthusiastic about.

"She is gone?" Brian asked for confirmation. "You wouldn't lie to me about something as important as that. Naw, you wouldn't because you'd know I'd find out."

"Gee whiz, Brian Kinney," Justin took offense. "I wouldn't lie to you ever about anything. If I wanted to lie about anything, this whole thing might be easier, darn it."

"OK, Twink," Brian went on. "What have you done now? Chances are I won't be mad. It's hard for me to be mad since we got rid of Henny and Penny.

"I didn't do anything," Justin defended himself. "How come every problem has to be about something I've done?"

"Or maybe something you haven't done," Brian laughed. "You can tell me what's bothering you, Baby. That's what I'm here for - to fix up things for you."

"It's Penelope, Bri," Justin started but was almost immediately interrupted.

"Are you going to tell me she's coming back?" Brian broke in. "I think you're going to tell me she's coming back. If you're not going to tell me that, talk fast."

"Well maybe she's coming back and maybe she's not," Justin continued. "You know she met Mel and Linz when she first came in and they liked her. They didn't even mind her voice all that much."

"Well, what about Henrietta the Eighth," Brian laughed in spite of himself. "They couldn't have been able to stand that for long."

"Bri," Justin moved slowly. "Henrietta didn't bark much at all when you weren't around. She didn't bark at all at Linz' and they liked her. Gus liked her too and so did Cicero the cat."

"So you're saying I'm responsible for that crazy dog yipping and yapping?" Brian surmised. "You telling me it's my fault that dog is such a pain?"

"No I'm not, " Justin protested. "It's just like maybe somebody who looks like you kicked Henrietta or something like that. It's not your fault. Nobody's saying that you kicked her or anything."

"Thanks for your confidence," Brian grinned. "But fortunately she's gone. I might be tempted to give Henrietta the Eighth a swift kick or two if she was still around."

"Brian, Honey," Justin bit the bullet. "Henrietta is still here. She's staying for a week with Mel and Linz and then Malcolm is going to drive her down to Cincinnati next weekend."

"OK, Twink," Brian decided, showing less emotion than Justin had anticipated. "We just stay away from there for the week. Let them have the damn dog if they want. Gus will just have to do without his dad till whenever the dog goes. A week's not that long."

"Bri, Sweetheart," Justin bit another bullet. "The reason Henrietta is staying here is to see if she likes it. If Penny gets the Rhodes, she might not be able to take the dog along. Henrietta is fussy about where she stays and Mel and Linz might be keeping her for the whole year if Penny is at Oxford."

"Some protector you are," Brian laughingly protested. "You can't even protect me from stuff I wouldn't need protected from if I didn't have you in residence."

"Cut it out, Brian," Justin complained. "I did the best I could. You know I did. I love you. I'd do anything for you and you know it. There are just some things I can't do."

"No there aren't, Baby," Brian squeezed the kid a little closer. "You can do anything. You always help me through the problems I wouldn't have if I didn't have you. I know that."

"And that's supposed to comfort me, I guess," Justin mused. "Well at least you didn't throw me out of the loft this time."

"Now you cut it out, Twink," Brian smiled at him. "Maybe I did throw you out of here a time or two but that would have been in the dark ages, before you convinced me that I was in love with you. You're here to stay now, no matter how much trouble you cause. I love you. Just don't be watching if I have to give Henrietta the Eighth a friendly kick every once in a while."

The discussion petered out at this point and it looked like the guys were up to facing together whatever problems they faced. After a little while Justin broke the silence.

"Hey, Bri, I promised to try to make you happy when I got back this afternoon, so maybe I should start working on that. Whattaya think?"

Geez, Baby," Brian answered. "I thought you had already started on that. In fact, I was just thinking that you had already made me happy."

"Naw," Justin told him. "There's still a lot more to do on that project."

"If you say so," Brian acquiesced. "You know I'm not one to want to argue with you. You always win anyway."

It was a while before Justin again returned to the discussion. "You know, Bri. Sometimes people are in England three years on Rhodes scholarships."

"So what?" Brian responded.

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