Break A Leg

It had been a hard day at the office and Brian was glad to be home. He had looked forward to a quiet evening in the loft - just him and the twink - but as he hung up his coat, he spied Justin, Cheshire cat smile on his face, and almost wished he were back at work.

"What?" he asked.

"What about what?" Justin replied.

"Spill it, Kiddo," Brian demanded. "I know that look. Something's up and I'm probably not going to like it but go ahead and get it over with."

"I think somebody's mad at you," Justin told him.

"What the hell do you think I've done now?" Brian wanted to know, "I wish you'd quit picking on me."

"Ha, Kinney," Justin remonstrated, "Always trying to blame everything on me. Well, you're wrong this time, Sweetheart. It's not me who's mad at you."

"Not you?" Brian was taken aback. "You're the only one who gets mad at me these days. "Linz and Mikey used to get mad at me regularly and Debbie always used to get mad at me, but they leave the getting mad at me to you now, and you do a pretty good job of it, Sunshine. So who the hell is mad at me? One of them?"

"Nope," Justin smiled at the perplexed Brian, "Malcolm is mad at you, I know, and I think Hunter is mad at you too, but I can't swear to that."

"Malcolm? Hunter?" Brian exclaimed. "I don't even know either one of them well enough for them to be mad at me. Why would they be mad at me? This has to be some of your doing, Taylor."

"Wrong again, Honey," Justin replied smugly, "This is all your own doing and I am completely innocent."

"You are never completely innocent, Baby," Brian reminded him, "But you are always hard to get any information out of, so if you're going to tell me what this is all about, how about doing it? I've had a hard day so far."

"And the day is not over either," Justin said, "Remember when you told Mikey that Malcolm wanted to cast him in a play, Sweetheart?"

"That was a joke," Brian answered, "And you knew it."

"Yep, I knew it all right but Michael did not know it," Justin informed him, "Michael thought the whole matter over and announced to Malcolm and Hunter that he was ready to try acting. Ben tried to talk him out of it but he told them that you knew more about the theater than any of them and that you had suggested it."

"But I didn't suggest it," Brian protested.

"No you didn't," Justin admitted, "But when you play with fire, you can get burned, Honey."

"And just how burned did I get?" Brian asked.

"Well," Justin told him, "Malcolm was afraid to get him into a play at school so he found him a part in a community theater that he works at too. It's a new play by an unknown author and Mikey has five lines."

"So I guess I did stick Malcolm with Michael. Why would Hunter be mad at me then?" Brian wondered.

"Elementary, my dear Kinney," Justin smiled at him, "Hunter is in the play too and he and Malcolm would have the rehearsal evenings together, but now they'll be stuck with the old man around too. Nobody wants the old man around when they're making out - except for me who is actually making out with the old man."

"You seem to be enjoying this whole thing, Twinky," Brian groused, "Aren't you afraid I'll try to get even somehow?"

"Why do you think I'm shaking the way I am?" Justin smiled in reply.

"From laughter, you little rat," Brian had to smile at him, "I will have my revenge." "Are Hunter and Malcolm still getting along?" Brian added.

"Oh yeah," Justin informed him. "It's the real thing. They have even quit asking me about you, so I have two less competitors. But I am glad for them. They're great together. I hope Mikey doesn't foul it up."

"Well, I guess it isn't all that bad," Brian concluded, "I'll patch things up with Hunter and Malcolm, but I guess we'll have to go to see our Mikey in his debut role."

"I think maybe I told Debbie we'd be at all six performances with her," Justin admitted, "But I may have to miss some of them to sub for Debbie at the diner so she can go."

"Sunshine," Brian warned, "You signed me up for all the performances and you expect to get out of some of them yourself. You may not live to see any of the performances. Somebody might be mad at you. Now is there anything I still don't know."

"Just one more thing," Justin allowed, "Mikey is coming over here in about half an hour to practice his lines with you. He thinks you're about the best acting coach he could find, and nobody else wants to go over Mikey's lines with him."

"Well," Brian surmised, "At least you'll be stuck with him too."

"Actually, Honey," Justin said, "Mikey was a little nervous about an audience for the run through, so I arranged to go to a French movie with Ethan and Tom tonight. I didn't want Mikey to be nervous."

Brian thought for a while before he walked over and turned on the fireplace. "OK, Honey," he said to Justin, "You win. Enjoy your French movie. Say 'Hi" to Ethan and Tom for me. Mikey and I will just sit here on the floor in front of the fire and work on his lines."

"I don't see why you need the fireplace lit," Justin wondered.

"I'm sure it will put Michael at ease and he'll do that much better with his lines. Once we've done that, we can talk about old times. I may be able to salvage this evening after all," Brian explained.

"I don't see why you need the fireplace lit," Justin protested.

"When you play with fireplaces you can get burned, Baby," Brian reminded him. "I've had a hard day today and the fireplace will help to calm me down too. It will be good for both me and Mikey."

"It's my job to calm you down after a hard day," Justin maintained.

"And that's exactly what I would want," Brian agreed, "But Mikey will be here and you will be off to the French movie so I'll just have to settle for second best. I hope you're not jealous."

"Of course I'm not jealous," Justin replied, "It's just that … I love you Brian. I didn't set this situation up. There was nothing I could do. I'm sorry if I seemed to be enjoying what's going on. I really wasn't. I love you Brian."

"Baby," Brian smiled at the twink while pulling him close, "The fireplace will still be lit when you get home and Mikey will be gone. You can calm me down then. How does that sound?"

"Sounds pretty good to me. But how do you expect me to enjoy the movie while I'm looking forward to that?" Justin complained.

"Actually, I don't think you're supposed to enjoy foreign films - just go and sit through them - but that is your problem," Brian said as he kissed him, "And I think I hear mine coming up the stairs right now."

Justin was leaving as Mikey entered. "Break a leg," Justin told the budding thespian.

"That means 'good luck' in the theater," Brian explained to Michael.

"We theater people know the jargon," Michael told him.

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