Only Seventeen

~ 11 ~

*~*~Justin's POV~*~*

I walk for a while, unsure of where to go, and not really caring where I end up. The city seems like an appealing idea, but there are places I'd rather stay away from and people I'd rather not see. No, I'll just walk and let fate lead me.

I shouldn't have yelled at my mother the way I did. Sure, I was upset and rightly so, but she doesn't deserve that kind of anger. I could have handled the situation with more tact. It's not her fault that life as she knows it no longer exists. Not her fault at all. At first I thought that it was, and I blamed her for everything that went wrong. I yelled at her for not keeping Craig happy at home, for not paying attention and letting the situation get out of control. In some ways, I think that I blamed her even after the move. I blamed her for picking a place so far away, and I blamed her for letting Craig walk all over everybody. Recent events have made me see that you can't control people's actions. They're going to act the way they want to and nothing can stop them, but that doesn't mean you have to agree with them.

Then there's Brian. I'm not angry with him or at him or any other form. I'm not anything. I'm not saying it was a mutual thing either, but that I understand where he's coming from. They get in with the maximum of pleasure and minimum of bullshit, but it'd be nice to let the second party know this before such party makes an ass of himself. That put together with the fight I'd had earlier -if you can even call it that, it was kind of one sided-plus, the conversation I'd had with my mother that morning didn't really make for a great afternoon.

The more I think about today's events, the madder I'm getting, and the more I'm wanting to turn around and walk straight towards Liberty Avenue. Maybe, I could convince the bouncer to let me into Babylon and head straight towards the illicit backroom. Yeah, that's what I'll do.

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

I pass the Liberty Diner, brightly lit, but not as busy as usual. It is a weekday, I remind myself. Babylon isn't that far down and I can feel myself growing nervous. Nervous that I won't get in, nervous that I will, and nervous about what's in the backroom that Brian was talking about. Why wouldn't Mikey want me to go in there?

I can hear voices chattering as I near the alley entrance. The lamppost on the corner keeps dimming, which casts an eerie glow on the pavement. I don't remember it looking this scary before. I'll chalk that up to excitement. I round the corner and immediately notice the long line to get in. I glance at my watch and see that it's after eleven so I know it's open.

The bouncer at the door is a big guy, like huge, he stands intimidatingly tall. He's the same one from last night though and I'm hoping he'll remember me. I walk up to him, putting on my best smile.

"The line ends there." He says in a gruff voice, pointing towards a spot far off in the distance.

"Actually." I say craning my neck to look at him. "I was hoping that I wouldn't have to wait in line."

"Everybody waits in line." He answers not bothering to look at me and I smirk.

"I didn't have to yesterday." I tell him. "I was with a guy, maybe you know him, Brian Kinney."

He chuckles and looks down at me. "You and everybody else in this place."

"It's alright." A voice says from behind me. I close my eyes and turn around knowing to whom that voice belongs. "He's with me."

I roll my eyes as I see him standing in a black shirt and jeans with his arms crossed in front of him, a smug grin on his face. He swings his arm around my shoulder and I shrug it off. "I didn't need your help." I say once we get inside the door to Babylon.

Brian huffs. "That's not what it looked like to me."

"Look, I don't need your pity or whatever it is you think you need to give me." I turn and walk towards the bar. "What I do need is a beer."

Brian signals to the bartender who brings over two bottles and places them on the counters in front of us. "There you go."

"Whatever." I grab it and take a swig, leaving him behind at the bar to dance. I don't bother to look behind and see his reaction because I don't care. At least that's what I tell myself. I just want to lose myself in whatever way possible.

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

An hour passes and then another, I'm getting beers handed to me left and right from men I don't know and some I do. They're all unopened when I get to them; I'm not a complete idiot.

"Justin."

I turn and see Brian sway-dancing close to me. I smile and turn back to the guys around me.

"Justin, look at me." Brian says again, more urgently.

The guy behind me doesn't like this and puts an arm around my waist, his skin running along mine where my uniform is unbuttoned. It sends shivers along my arms and to the root of my spine. "What are you doing to yourself?"

"I am a Justin sandwich." I tell him proudly with a nod to the two guys flanking me. "They should serve me at the diner."

"You are way too far gone." He huffs under his breath. "How many of those have you had?"

I look at the beer in my hand; it's a Heineken. "This is my first one, honest." Of this brand.

He looks at me skeptically. "How many bottles have you had total?" Damn.

"I don't know."

"Sign one that you've had too many." He grabs me from between the two guys and takes the beer from my hand, there's only, like, one drink left. "Sign two, bad reflexes."

"I don't have bad reflexes."

"Sign three, you're slurring your words."

Okay, he's making that one up.

"Time to go, Justin." He grabs my hand and pulls me towards the alley.

"I'm not your responsibility." I spit at his back.

"I know that." He says looking at me with his eyes cast downward. "But you are my friend, I think."

My eyes are wide, unsure if he really means it. Before I can contemplate and argue with the statement, Brian is pulling me out the door by my arm. It's darker then it was when I first entered Babylon and the line has all but disappeared. The bouncer is still standing at the door, arms crossed, and brooding.

"Hey, Kinney." He calls and chuckles. "I thought you didn't do seconds."

Brian laughs and flicks the guy off, and then mutters something.

"Where are we going?" I ask, yanking my arm free from his grasp. Brian turns and looks at me, white, uniform shirt unbuttoned, sleeves of my blue blazer rolled to my elbows, and hair mussed. I must look so appealing.

Brian sighs. "Why does it matter?"

"I'm not moving from this spot until you tell me where we're going." I eye him, eyebrow raised, and arms crossed.

"Fine, we're going to my car where I will then drive you to my house, so that I can attempt to sneak you into my room. Happy now?"

I answer truthfully. "No."

"What?"

"Why are we going to your house?"

Brian huffs. "Because you are drunk and since I don't know the layout of your house very well, I can't take you there. Do you want to wake up your mommy and let her see you in this condition."

"The way I feel about her right now, sure."

"You won't feel the same in the morning." Brian says before turning and walking towards where the car is parked.

Once we make it there, I crawl into the passenger seat and fasten my belt. Brian turns the key and the engine roars to life. I watch the scenery as it flies past, hoping to remember this route, but knowing I'm not likely to.

"What made you come here?" Brian asks after a short while.

"Why do you?" I toss back at him.

"I'm sure for an entirely different reason."

I sigh and shrug. "To get lost, in the people, the music, everything."

"I guess they're not that different."

It's my turn to ask the question. "Why do you care?"

"Just wondering, that's all."

"No, I mean why did you care how many beers I'd had, why do you care if I get home or not. Why do you care?"

"Justin." He pauses to collect his thoughts, maybe, I don't know. "What happened the other night, though it may have been just a one time thing, didn't make it any less amazing. You're still somebody that I consider to be a friend and I don't want something bad to happen to you."

"You mean, you don't want that to be on your conscience."

He smiles. "Maybe that's it."

We pull up in front of a two-story farmhouse, built sometime last century. It's falling apart and nothing like my shiny, new, all-white, WASP abode.

"Just follow me and keep your voice down."

"Aye, aye." I recite with a shaky salute.

Brian rolls his eyes and slams the car door shut. He creeps around the back of the house towards a white birch tree. I follow him closely, watching for anything that might make noise. Brian shimmies up the tree before I even know what's going on and sets a steady foot onto the open window ledge.

"Come on." He whispers. I grab hold of the branches and attempt to make it up the trunk alone, but I'm neither that skilled nor graceful. I fall a handful of times, like the bumbling and drunken idiot I am. Finally, on the umpteenth try, I make it to where Brian can grab my hand and pull me the rest of the way.

We fall inside of his room, me landing on top, with a loud thud, legs intertwined, and mouths inches apart. I close my eyes and lower my head to his, allowing our lips to meet. I'm never one to waste an opportunity. Brian's hand roams over my bare chest, around towards my back, and into my pants. He flips us over and slips his tongue over mine at the same time. He's multi-tasking and good at it.

Then, he stops, pushes himself off of me, and walks across the room.

"What the…" I trail off and watch him.

"We can't do that." He says and throws me a pillow from the bed and his comforter.

"Brian?" I watch him crawl into bed, my head spinning from either the beer or the kisses, I'm not sure.

"Hmm?"

"Never mind." I throw the pillow on the floor and fan the blue comforter over me, pulling it tight under my chin. I've gotten to that place in sleep where you aren't quite sleeping, but you're not really awake either when I hear rustling above me and then Brian's voice.

"Justin?"

"Yeah?"

"It gets cold at night." He pauses. "Why don't you get up here with me. My bed's big enough for the both of us."

Without hesitation, I jump from my spot on the floor to Brian's bed. I smooth the comforter over the bed and he pulls it back for me to get in. When I crawl in next to him, Brian throws the blankets over me, and wraps his arm around my waist.

He was right, it is warming up in here.

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