Message in a Bottle

Chapter 11

POV EMMETT

I smile as I think back on the scene we just left in Brian’s Motel room. Justin looks like the perfect match for him - patient, loving (but not overtly so), smart, and cocky. And strong enough to take Brian’s gruffness with a grain of salt. He seems to know after this short time that Brian’s outer demeanor shields an inner beauty, a deep and sensitive soul that for years, I suspect, was strongly discouraged by his family. I believe it was his father who probably both beat him and verbally abused him, but that’s only a suspicion I have. Still, I’m pretty intuitive…

“I can’t believe that blond little twink!” Michael interrupts my thoughts with his tired, repetitive rant. “He’s got Brian brainwashed; I mean, after all, Brian’s on all kinds of meds and he’s in pain. Jason—“

“Justin,” I sigh.

“Justin, whatever. Justin obviously is holding him prisoner. Brian is so hurt, he can’t get away,” Michael bitches. He’s really, really bent out of shape by this young man who has, from what I can see, taken up residence in Brian’s once-lonely heart - and in a very short time.

“Michael, sweetie, will you shut up already? You’ve said this nonsense ad nauseum for the last half hour!” Normally I love Michael of course, and normally I'm very patient when he gets like this about Brian. But fuck if we don’t have another half hour of driving until we get home and I know he's not going to stop complaining the rest of the way there. So, as ungracious as I may sound, I must admit that I can't wait till I can finally drop him off and get his whining out of my ringing ears. Right now, I wish I'd gone with the other folks in their car pool, but my tiny little beater car has to get back home, too.

“Well, it’s true! We have to rescue him!” Michael continues.

“Oh, for pity's sake, Michael! For the last time, Brian is happy! He’s not a prisoner - he likes Justin, and it’s obvious that Justin might even *love* Brian! They’re good for each other, no one needs rescuing so just leave them alone! So, let it go, hun!"

“Brian would have called me to help him with his injuries if he could have. That fucking ‘twink’ has obviously manipulated him.”

I roll my eyes. “Sweetie, you know that no one can manipulate Brian Kinney. He’s the strongest personality I’ve ever met - he even rivals myself. He’s very observant of how people behave around him. In fact, he’s often quite suspicious; that’s why his circle of friends is relatively small, but also incredibly tight. He doesn’t suffer fools. I know he trusts Justin—“

“Fuck, Emmett, he’s known the freak for two minutes!”

Again, I roll my eyes. “Whatever, Michael. Just live with it. And don’t interfere.” AAAAAAAH! Get me out of this car and away from this jealous freak! He's so possessive of Brian, like he's 'his' and can be close to no one else. Michael's always been like this, and Brian's always been patient with him, amazingly so. But despite my genteel Southern upbringing, *I'm* ready to throttle him. And this time, Michael knows that Justin's different. He's sticking around and Brian's letting him; and coming to want him to, I can tell. Michael's only used to Brian's tricks. He can handle them; tricking is just part of 'Brian being Brian'. This is new, and it doesn't fit into Michael's paradigm of 'his best friend'.

Thankfully, he's then quiet, looking out the window at the passing scenery. Still, I glance over worriedly. His brows are knit like he’s scheming something.

“Brian belongs with *me*,” I hear him whisper and a shiver goes up and down my spine.

This isn’t good. This isn’t good at all. I have to keep an eye on this potentially explosive situation. If only Brian weren't so bloody handsome and inwardly complex. The combination attracts trouble; it seems he lives his life from one crisis to another, most not even caused by himself. He's very capable in dealing with crises, just sometimes crises *are* crises because there's nothing you can do to cope with them. Like my suspicions about Brian's home life, and then his grandfather. I suspect a good amount of those terrible wounds were inflicted by the senior Kinney, just a good, solid hunch on my part. And Brian wouldn't fight an old man. Then his accident at the Motel with those children.

The blessing in all this, I'm beginning to think, is his finding Justin. I just hope to all that is holy that Michael keeps his nose out of their business.

But I'm not terribly optimistic about that at the moment.

Return to Message In A Bottle