"He said he's leaving." Brian told Mikey the next morning at the diner.

"Who?"

"Justin. He's all paid off and he said he wants to leave after school today."

"So?" Michael was confused, as usual.

"So…" Brian paused. "I thought you'd like to know."

What the fuck for? Michael thought. It wasn't like he was attached to the boy. He liked Justin, but who didn't? There had to be a reason Brian was telling him this, but he just couldn't put his finger on it.

"Oh. Thanks, I guess." Michael took a sip from his orange juice.

"How's the nutty professor?"

"He's doing fine, great actually. He's really excited about the new book he's writing. I'm just hoping he doesn't get his hopes up."

"You're supposed to have faith in your husband, Mikey." Brian smirked.

"He's not my husband and I do. I just don't want him to get hurt because of something out of his hands. He's a really good writer, but I'm not quite sure he remembers that all the time."

"I'm sure you'll remind him."

"I should get to work." Michael stood and slipped on his coat. "See you at Babylon?"

"Probably."

Michael walked out of the diner into the crisp air, took a deep breath and headed towards work. The scenario in the diner kept playing through his head on repeat. Brian had called and asked him to be there for breakfast. He claimed they never spent any time together since Brian had made partner. That alone was out of character for the man, but Michael didn't let it register. Then, that whole thing with Justin leaving. What was that about? If Justin wanted to leave then who was he to stop him? Brian had told him on numerous occasions that the blonde was free to leave whenever he wanted, and that Brian wouldn't stop him.

"That's it." Michael gasped. Brian didn't want to stop him, but that didn't mean somebody else couldn't. That was so Brian; to ask something of somebody without actually asking. Michael turned at the next street towards Justin's school. He hoped that the kid would be there and hadn't decided to skip out early.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Daphne and Justin were sitting in the courtyard at school eating lunch and having a quick smoke before it was time to head in for their next class. The snow had melted and there were the makings of spring in the air. The bench that the duo currently occupied was nestled underneath a large, leafless, Sycamore tree. Daphne was listening intently to what Justin was telling her and thought before voicing her opinion.

"That's your big plan?" Daphne giggled, shoving Justin on the arm.

"It's not very good, is it?" Justin frowned.

"No, I think it's an excellent idea." She took a drag off the cigarette, careful to blow the smoke away from Justin. "There's just one problem that I can foresee."

"And what's that?"

"Where are you going to live?"

"I'll figure something out. I always do." Justin smirked and bit into the veggie wrap on his brown tray. They joked some more until the bell broke through, signaling the end of lunch. Justin grabbed Daphne's tray and threw the remnants of their meals into the nearby trashcan before heading towards the school doors.

"Justin." Daphne called grabbing his arm. "I think someone's here to see you."

Justin's heart jumped to his throat at the thought of who it could be, but he was sadly mistaken; it was only Michael.

"Hey, Boy Wonder." Michael called, jogging towards the door. "We need to have a little chat." He motioned with his head for Justin to sit back down on the bench.

"What's wrong? Something happen to Brian or Gus? Or Deb?" Justin asked frantically.

"No, they're all fine. It's you I'm worried about."

"I'm excellent." Justin told him. He glanced back and saw Daphne still standing by the door and gestured for her to go inside. "Did you hear otherwise?"

"I wouldn't be here if I hadn't." Michael took a deep breath and tried to figure out what he was going to ask or say, and he opted for brutal honesty. "Brian said that you've decided to leave."

"Oh…that." The blonde lowered his head to look at his feet.

"Yeah." Michael agreed carefully choosing his next words. "Listen, I understand that you've had it rough and I'm not gonna say that I understand because I don't, but you can't just leave when things get rough. You've got to stick it out long enough to figure out what it is you really want."

"Always the optimist." Justin whispered.

"I'm just saying that one day you're going to have no place left to go, and when that day comes, what are you going to do about it?" Michael smiled to himself.

Justin snorted, trying to hold in his laughter. "Thanks for all that, but if Brian hadn't jumped to conclusions, I would have told him that I'm moving out of the loft, not the whole city. I talked to Lindsay and my art teacher and they said that I'd make an excellent candidate for PIFA."

"You're going to school?" Michael interrupted.

"I can't keep mooching off Brian and expect to get anywhere in life. I've got to make my own way, and I think that I can do that with art. I can stay with your mom or in an apartment."

"Shit."

"That's all you've got to say?"

"Damn, I thought I was finally rid of you." Michael grinned and stood up shoving his hands in his pocket. "I'm glad to hear you're not leaving, but now I've made you late for class and I'm late for work."

"Really, though, thanks for coming down here. It's nice…to have someone care." Justin turned and made his way for the door, stopping when he heard his name being called. He cocked his head and raised an eyebrow at Michael.

"You should talk to him and tell him. He'd like to know." Michael turned and kicked at a rock on the ground before walking to work.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Justin lugged his duffel bag down the stairs from the bedroom and dropped it next to his other things by the loft door. He had wanted to, but didn't succeed in getting everything gone before Brian had gotten home. Staying later at the diner had sounded like a good idea, but in all actuality ended up not being worth it. As soon as Brian entered the loft, Justin immediately took the defensive.

"I don't want to fight with you." Brian yelled in frustration.

"Then don't." Justin hissed as he tossed his remaining school supplies into his backpack. He zipped the bag closed and tossed it over his shoulder, giving Brian a sideways glance on his way towards the bedroom.

"First, you tell me you're leaving because your debt's all paid, and now you're telling me that you're applying to colleges and that you'll be staying with Deb. Why not just stay here?"

"I just can't." Justin answered truthfully because he really didn't know why he felt like he had to leave. Brian had given him no indication of wanting the loft to himself, but he'd also not given any indication that he wanted Justin there.

"Fine." Brian growled grabbing his leather jacket. "You go and do whatever the fuck you want. I'll be at Woody's."

Justin watched him leave not quite sure what had just happened. He grabbed his duffle bag by the door and slung it over his shoulder with his backpack and set the alarm before taking one final look around the loft.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I take it you heard he's not leaving." Brian slurred into his beer. Michael winced at the all too familiar scene before him. Brian high on E and alcohol with his best friend left to pick up the pieces.

"Don't do this to yourself."

"It's nothing you haven't seen before."

Michael nodded his head sadly at the all-true statement. Just because it wasn't new didn't mean that he wanted to get used to it. He hated seeing his friend putting himself through that, even if it meant he got to play the hero every now and again. Sadly, he was the hero at Brian's emotional, physical, and mental expense.

"If you want him back then you're going to have to tell him."

"Who said I wanted him back? In fact, who said that I wanted him in the first place?"

"All I'm saying…" Michael trailed off. "He's doing fine staying at Mom's, you know. He's happy."

"He deserves it."

"Yeah, he does." And so do you. "I can tell he misses you."

"He knows where the loft is." Brian told him, taking a drink.

"You can be so frustrating at times. He needs to know that you care! If you ever cared at all!" Michael stared at his friend. "He's a kid, Bri, and for some reason that I'm sure you know about, he's had to grow up faster than a normal teenager. Even so, he's hurting and he thinks you'll push him away and to not get hurt, he pushed you away first. You've got to show him that he wasn't right, that you wouldn't have pushed."

Brian slid the beer away and rested his chin on his hands. Michael was right, which was a rarity, but when it happened watch out. As much as he wanted to deny it, not having Justin around for the last few days was wreaking havoc on him. He hated the feeling of cold sheets in the middle of the night. The loft felt bare without all Justin's shit to clutter it up, and the fridge was stocked full of food that Brian would never eat. He couldn't let it go to waste now, could he?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Sunshine." Deb whispered softly the next day at the diner as she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Take it one day at a time, honey."

"I'm fine." He reassured her. She knew full well that he wasn't, but she couldn't argue with him the way she could with Michael. Justin stuck by his convictions and was hard-pressed to admit when he was wrong. Debbie watched the blonde grab the towel and clean off the table formerly occupied by a couple of college kids. As he wiped down the table, Justin heard the ring of the bell above the door, and felt the all too familiar gaze of Brian Kinney.

"You work too hard."

"I can handle myself." Justin said replacing the ketchup container in the metal rack. When he finished, he turned and found Brian standing directly behind him. His eyes were glazed and a bit puffy. He'd obviously been drinking the night before. "You look like shit."

"Not one of my favorite greetings."

"You don't like liars." Justin stated and Brian nodded. "What brings you here? You should be working."

"And you should be in school, so I guess we're even."

"Don't start." Justin hissed through gritted teeth. "Not here."

"I wasn't planning on it." Brian hadn't come here to start a fight, quite the opposite actually. "I needed to ask you something."

Justin looked towards Deb and she nodded her head slightly. He slid into a booth and waited for Brian to follow suit. "What's that?"

"Hypothetically speaking, if I asked you to come back to the loft, would you?"

Justin grinned to himself careful to not show his happiness at Brian's subtle question. "Hypothetically speaking?" Brian nodded. "Would there be a reason behind it?"

Shit. "A hypothetical one, of course."

"Of course." Justin smirked. "There's a possibility, but that's only a hypothetical situation." Justin grabbed his rag and continued back to work, smiling the entire time.

Brian put on his sunglasses and walked out of the diner. Though he was pissed that Justin had known what he was doing and still expected more from him, he couldn't help but smile as he watched Justin float through the diner. He'd made Justin feel that way; he'd put the smile on Sunshine's face. It was a good feeling.

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