Gentleman's Game

Part 1

Brian woke up early on this particular Saturday morning. It was an internal clock that got him up at eight. He sighed heavily, knowing he would be unable to get back to sleep. Careful not to wake Justin, who was sleeping soundly beside him, he got up and went to make some coffee. As usually happened, Justin was awake a few moments later, having somehow sensed Brian's absence in bed.

"Why are we up so early on a Saturday?" the blond asked as he made his way into the kitchen. By that time the coffee was done and Brian was standing in the kitchen, leaning back against the sink, as he took a sip. Justin came over and poured himself a cup.

"Because I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep. You just seem to wake up when I do." Brian was finding it very hard to keep his eyes off the sight of Justin standing there in nothing but his underwear. While sipping the coffee he remembered what day it was and knew that he couldn't give in to an early morning fuck.

Once his coffee was finished he headed to the shower. When Justin started to follow, he held up his hand. "I have somewhere I have to be, so I can't waste time in the shower."

"Where do you have to be?"

Brian thought for a moment, then decided that he would tell the teen. "It's a surprise, and you're going with me so I'm gonna leave the water running so you can take a quick shower."

"Or I could just shower with you."

"And we'd end up fucking and we'd be late. No."

"Being late has never bothered you before," Justin said with a smirk.

"Well, it bothers me this time. This is one appointment that I am never late for." Brian then headed into the bathroom.

Once he was done with his shower, he looked over toward the bathroom door and saw Justin coming in. He stepped out, leaving the water running as promised, and grabbed a towel, drying himself off as he passed the blonde. While Justin showered Brian dressed quickly. He decided on his wine colored silk shirt, black slacks and shoes. He made sure that his hair was neatly combed rather than his usual "just fucked" look. When Justin came out of the bathroom, he stopped.

"What? Come on, I don't have all day. And wear something nice." Brian then walked into the living room. Several minutes later a still rather confused Justin came out of the bedroom in a light blue sweater, navy slacks and black shoes. Brian smiled.

"Is this okay?" he asked. Brian nodded and walked over to Justin, kissing him quickly on the lips.

"Perfect, now let's go." He walked over and grabbed his jacket, then headed out the door. Justin's confusion had not dissipated as he followed the older man.

They had been driving for almost an hour. Justin noticed almost immediately that they were leaving the city. He had no idea where they were going and it didn't look like Brian was going to tell him. He knew that it was some kind of surprise, but he was getting more and more suspicious as they got further out of the city. Finally, he could hold it in no longer.

"Brian, where are we going?"

"We're almost there," was Brian's only reply. Justin let out a frustrated sigh and Brian couldn't keep the smirk off his face. Justin's confusion only grew when they turned into the driveway of the McKeesport Steelview Manor.

"Brian......this is a retirement home."

"I know," Brian said with a nod.

"Why are we here?"

"You'll find out in a minute." Brian parked the Jeep, then got out and waited for Justin to follow. Justin walked around to Brian's side and was a little surprised when Brian took his hand, leading him along. His confusion grew even more when they actually got into the building. There was a young black woman standing behind a counter in what appeared to be the lobby. Upon closer inspection Justin guessed that she was probably a little older than Brian, but not by much.

"Brian, how are you? It's been a while." Justin was amazed when the woman actually came around and hugged Brian. He was downright shocked when Brian hugged back.

"Yeah, I've been working a lot. I made partner," he said with a proud grin.

"Really? Oh, that's wonderful, congratulations!" She kissed his cheek and he actually blushed. In all the time Justin had known Brian he had never seen the man blush. This was definitely getting interesting. At that moment Brian seemed to suddenly remember that Justin was there.

"Mekena, this is Justin Taylor. Justin, this is Mekena Davidson."

"Well, isn't he a cute one? How old is he, Brian?" she smirked.

"If you must know, he's nineteen."

"Holy Jesus, Brian, when did you take to robbing the cradle?" She laughed and winked at Justin. "It's very nice to meet you." She held out her hand and Justin took it.

"So.....I take it Brian comes here often?" Justin asked. Mekena nodded.

"At least once a month if he gets the chance. It's been a few months though."

"I told you I've been busy."

"Looking at him I can see why." Mekena smirked and Justin couldn't help but laugh. He was definitely starting to like this woman.

"How's she been lately?" Brian asked with a bit of concern in his voice.

"Oh, she's doing much better. Luckily the pneumonia passed without any complications. She's actually out in the atrium right now, enjoying the flowers." Brian nodded and kissed Mekena's cheek.

"Thanks. I'll stop by on the way out and we can talk some more."

"I'm holding you to that," she said with a grin. They both laughed, then Brian took Justin's hand and started leading him down the hall. This was a side of Brian that Justin had never seen before. Probably that none of them had ever seen before. Justin really liked this side of Brian.

They seemed to walk through endless hallways, Brian seeming to know exactly where he was going. After a few minutes Brian led him out into an atrium that was filled with flowers and bushes, little stone benches everywhere.

They walked over to one particular bench. Beside the bench was a small, frail looking old woman in a wheelchair. She still had all her beautiful chestnut hair, Justin could tell that it hadn't turned white and then been dyed. So that's where Brian gets his hair color from, Justin thought to himself. She was looking down at the purple and yellow pansies at her feet. She had a plaid throw over her lap and a white lace shawl around her shoulders. Brian knelt down beside the wheelchair and put a hand on her arm.

"Gramma?" he said softly. When the woman looked up she smiled brightly.

"Oh......Brian. I missed you. Where have you been?" She leaned over and kissed his cheek. He smiled and kissed hers, then moved around to take a seat on the bench.

"I've been really busy, Gramma. I got a promotion at work. I'm a partner now."

"Oh, that's so wonderful, Brian. I knew you would. You've always been so smart." Brian smiled, once again blushing slightly. He let her kiss his cheek once again.

"Mekena tells me that you're feeling better."

"Well, that's silly. Of course I'm feeling better. Think, Brian. I wouldn't be outside if I was still sick, now would I?" She smirked and Brian laughed.

"I guess you're right."

"And how is Ardal doing?" Brian glanced up at Justin for a second, then looked back at his grandmother. Justin simply raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Ardal's fine, Gramma. Very happy."

"That's good. It's good to keep Ardal happy."

"Gramma.......there's somebody I want you to meet."

"Oh?" That was when she finally seemed to notice Justin.

"Gramma, this is Justin Taylor. Justin, this is my Gramma, Shanessa Kinney."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am," Justin said with a slight bow.

"Oh, what a gentleman. And handsome too." She smiled at Justin, then looked at Brian for a minute. "So is this the boyfriend you're always droning on and on about?"

"Gramma, I do not drone on and on." When she raised an eyebrow at him he looked down and nodded. Justin couldn't keep a smile off his face. Brian talked to his grandmother about him. That's when reality struck.

"Wait a minute......." Justin began.

"She knows, Justin. I told her back in college."

"And it doesn't make me love him any less." She patted Brian's arm and he smiled, kissing her cheek. Just then one of the orderlies came out into the atrium.

"Okay, Shan. Time for your nap." Justin laughed when she rolled her eyes.

"Now, Henry, I am not a child."

"No, but you still need your nap. Hi, Brian."

"Henry," Brian said in way of greeting. "Gramma, we have to be going anyway so you go be a good girl and take a nap." He kissed her cheek once again before standing.

"Don't you dare patronize me Brian Aiden Kinney," she said rather sternly, then she smiled. Brian laughed.

"I'll see you as soon as I can, okay?"

"And bring that one with you." She pointed to Justin. "He's adorable. You better hang on to him." Brian leaned down and whispered in her ear.

"I plan on it." He stood there and watched as his grandmother was wheeled back into the building. Justin took his hand and leaned his head on Brian's shoulder.

"So........who's Ardal?" Justin asked with a smirk.

"That's for me to know and you not to find out." Brian said playfully as he led Justin back the way they had come before. After stopping to talk to Mekena as promised, Brian led Justin out to the Jeep. They spent most of the ride home in silence and Justin knew that the side of Brian he saw today would have to stay hidden. If Justin said a word about it, no one would believe him anyway.

Part 2

A year after the day Brian introduced Justin to his grandmother, Brian found himself sitting alone in his loft on a Saturday morning. He’d managed to visit her once in a while, always making excuses for why Justin wasn't with him. He just couldn't bring himself to face that fact that Justin was gone. Brian was up early this Saturday as he usually was. He was getting ready to take a shower when the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Brian......" It was Mekena. Brian was a bit confused; she had never called him before. There was really no reason for her to call, unless...

"Mekena, what's going on?"

"Brian.........Shanessa, she's not doing very well. The doctor doesn't think she'll last much longer," Mekena explained. Brian's face went pale.

"I.......I'll be there as fast as I can." He skipped the shower, threw on some clothes and drove as fast as he could toward McKeesport.

Mekena was waiting for him when he got in, barely taking the time to turn off the Jeep before jumping out. She quickly led him to the room and Brain froze when he got to the doorway. She looked so small and weak. She was on several IV's and a heart monitor that was beeping erratically. She had oxygen tubes in her nose and was having a hard time breathing. Brian took a deep breath and let it out slowly before making his way into the room, taking a seat by the bed and taking her hand in his. He thought he would break her if he wasn't careful, her hand felt like he was holding five twigs.

"Gramma?" he asked, his voice cracking. He closed his eyes trying to keep the tears from running down his cheeks. She opened her eyes and smiled weakly.

"Brian...." her voice was almost a whisper.

"Shhhh, Gramma, just rest, okay?" His voice was shaking, the tears having rebelled and made their way down his face.

"Brian.....my sweet little Brian...I want you to promise me something."

"Anything, Gramma. Anything you want."

"Take......care.......of Ardal." Brian couldn't help but smile.

"I will Gramma. I'll take good care of him. You won't have to worry about Ardal, Gramma." She smiled and he leaned down and kissed her cheek. She gently squeezed his hand and then her smile faded, her eyes clouded over and the heart monitor flat lined. The doctors had known it was coming so no one tried to resuscitate her. Everyone cleared out of the room and left Brian alone with his grandmother. He lay down on the bed and took her small, fragile form into his arms, holding her as he cried.

 

Part 3

He was running. It was dark and he was running. But he wasn't just running. He was running away. Someone was after him. He had to get away. He had to run away.

"GET BACK HERE SONNY BOY!" The voice boomed behind him sounding closer than it was just a moment ago. No matter how fast he ran it never seemed fast enough. He had to run away, had to get away.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed him from behind, hurling him back onto the floor. He hit something hard and cried out. Then something hit him in the stomach. He doubled over, coughing. He tried to get up and something hit him hard on the back.



"NO!" Brian screamed as he sat up straight in bed. His eyes darted around the room for a few minutes before he remembered where he was. His heart was pounding and he was drenched in sweat. He lay back in bed and sighed heavily. He'd been having the same nightmare every night for the last two weeks. Ever since...He sighed again.

Brian had always felt safe and protected when he was around his grandmother. He’d even attended the McKeesport campus of Penn State just so that he could be close to her. Even into adulthood, even though she wasn't close, he knew that she was there for him whenever he needed her. She’d always listened to him and helped him with his problems. She didn't ridicule him when he told her he was gay. She simply smiled and nodded as if she'd always known.

Brian decided that he wasn't going to be getting any sleep anytime soon, so he got up and went into his closet to lay out his suit for work that day. As he was deciding what to wear, he caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye. He looked up and his eyes landed on a box that he hadn't seen in years. He smiled as he pulled the box down, taking it and sitting on the bed. He slowly opened the box and started to look at the contents.

The first thing he pulled out was a small blue fleece blanket. On one corner the initials BK had been embroidered. Brian smiled as he ran his thumb over the tiny letters. He hadn't seen this blanket in years. He put it aside and stopped at the next thing he saw. He pulled out a white, cloth teddy bear. He had a vest that was made of the same material he was, on which was embroidered a little shamrock. Under the shamrock was embroidered the bear's name, Ardal. Brian had always thought it amusing that the bear had technically been named bear. He smiled as he held the bear, lying back against the pillows. He hugged the bear close and before long was fast asleep.

When Brian awoke the next morning he sat up and realized that the bear was nowhere to be found. He actually started to panic. He threw the duvet and the sheets off the bed in a frantic search for the bear. He’d practically torn his bedroom apart when he noticed something white out of the corner of his eye. There he was, over in the corner. Brian ran over and picked him up, hugging him close.

"I never would have forgiven myself if I’d lost you." He kissed the bear on the head and then stopped when he realized what he was doing. Here he was, Brian fucking Kinney, thirty-two years old, panicking over a lost teddy bear. He just had to laugh at himself about that. He gently laid the receiving blanket back in the box and put it back in the closet. He decided to take the time to make his own bed since the cleaning lady wasn't coming until Friday. When he was done he set Ardal leaning up against one of the pillows.

On his way to work he tried to remember the last time he’d needed the bear to help vanquish his childhood demons. He blushed slightly when he realized that it was in college. He felt a little better after figuring out that it had been almost twelve years since the last time he'd seen that bear. A sudden wave of guilt crashed over him after that. He’d told his grandmother that Ardal was happy. That he was taking good care of the bear. When the whole time he had it stuffed in a box in the back of his closet.

He actually considered keeping Ardal right where he was. Giving the bear a permanent spot in the middle of his bed. Then he realized what that would look like. Big bad Brian Kinney needs a teddy bear to sleep at night. Oh the things that would do to his reputation. He would never get laid again. He sighed as he came to the decision he knew was right.

"I'm sorry, Gramma, but he has to go back in the box. No matter how much I don't want him to." Brian made a silent promise to himself that he would only put the bear away when the nightmares had stopped. He had no idea at the time that it would be weeks before that happened.

 

Part 4
 

Brian was walking down the street when he looked up and saw Justin. It had been three years since the Rage party. He decided to go talk to the blond, since he hadn't in all that time. He crossed at the light and made his way over to Justin, who happened to be selling some sketches, Brian hoped only for extra cash, not sole income. Justin was busy with another customer when Brian walked up. Brian immediately spotted a sketch of the pond in the nearby park and something drew him to it. He picked it up and looked at it for a minute.

"How much is this one?" he asked without looking up. Justin froze in his tracks, recognizing the voice immediately. He turned and smiled.

"Fifty," Justin said rather firmly and Brian laughed. Justin made a face and Brian shook his head.

"No, you're misunderstanding me. I'm not laughing at how much you're selling it for, I'm laughing at how little. Justin......you could easily get two hundred for each of these sketches, if not more. And yet you're out here peddling them for practically nothing. You have seriously underestimated yourself." Brian almost melted when his admission was greeted with one of those patented sunshine smiles.

"You really think so?"

"Of course I think so. I always have. You used to have a lot more confidence in your work." Justin was about to say something when his stomach rumbled and Brian laughed. "Why am I not surprised that you're hungry?" That earned a laugh from Justin as well. "Come on, I'll get you something to eat. My treat."

"I never pass up free food," Justin said with a smile, covering his paintings and sketches with a tarp before following Brian into the nearby restaurant.

What started out as a simple lunch together turned into an entire afternoon talking, then eventually dinner at the loft. It hadn't changed much in the time Justin had been gone, except he noticed one new addition in the bedroom.

"What's with the bear?" he asked as he came back into the living room.

"It's a very long, drawn out, complicated story. All you really need to know is that my grandmother gave him to me when I was a baby."

"Oh.......the one I went with you to visit?" Brian nodded. "How is she, anyway?" he asked as he took a seat beside Brian on the couch. Brian took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"She died about two years ago."

"Oh Brian......I'm so sorry." He put an arm around Brian's shoulder, knowing even just from the one visit how much the woman meant to him.

"I never had the heart to tell her you left. I just kept making excuses."

"You shouldn't have had to make excuses, Brian. I never should have left. It was the worst mistake of my life."

"But, that's in the past and you can't change the past," Brian said. Justin nodded, then looked at Brian with a grin.

"But you can do something about the future." Without warning he pounced and attacked Brian's mouth with his own. When Brian awoke that morning he never expected to see Justin. And when he crossed the street simply to say hello, he never imagined his evening would be spent rekindling an old flame.
 

Part 5

"Can you believe we've been together 25 years already?" Justin asked as he came into the kitchen were Brian was making breakfast.

"Technically only twenty-two. There were three years in there that we weren't together," Brian said with a smirk. At fifty-four years old Brian was still gorgeous. His hair was still the thick chestnut it had always been, not even the slightest sign of gray. A strict diet and constant exercise maintained his thin physique. The only evidence of age being the crow's feet at the corners of his eyes and mouth.

"Well, if you must get technical. Then I can say it's been twenty-five years since we met." Justin took a seat at the table. At forty-two he still looked much the same as he did when he was fifteen. His hair was a darker blonde and his eyes had actually become a lighter shade of ice blue. Living with Brian meant maintaining the same diet and exercise regimen so his physique was much the same as well. Brian brought the plate of pancakes over to the table and set it down, then went back and got the syrup and coffee.

"What I really can't believe is that we're grandfathers," he said before giving his pancakes a light coating of syrup.

"Technically, you're a grandfather," Justin said a little sadly. Brian reached over and squeezed his hand.

"You're as much his dad as I am, Justin, and you know that." He smiled when Justin brought his hand to his lips and kissed his knuckles.

"So, we're going over there later, right?"

"Actually, we're going to see Lindsay and Melanie. Gus, Erin and Shannon are going to be there."

"I can't believe Gus named his son Shannon." Justin shook his head.

"Shannon is a good Irish name. Don't knock it. My middle name was almost Shannon."

"Really?"

"Yeah. But my dad talked my mom out of it. He told her if she named me Shannon she was dooming me to be a fucking fairy."

"So she didn't name you Shannon and you're a fairy anyway." They both laughed at the irony of it.

After breakfast Brian went into the bedroom to get dressed. When he looked up at the shelf where Ardal customarily sat, he noticed the shelf was empty. He poked his head out the door.

"Where's Ardal?"

"Hmm?"

"Where's Ardal? He's not on his shelf."

"Brian, you're over fifty......"

"And my grandmother gave me that bear. Now where is he?"

"I don't know." Brian suddenly began to panic, tearing the bedroom apart looking for Ardal. He let out a relieved sigh when he found the bear in the closet. The cleaning lady must have put him there for some reason. She was new and he'd forgotten to tell her to leave Ardal on his shelf. Suddenly, something dawned on Brian. He realized that Ardal must have been gone all night. He smiled slightly to himself, then walked into the living room.

"I think I'm going to give him to Shannon."

"Really?"

"Yeah, like you said, I'm over fifty. Shannon needs the bear more than I do."

"Oh, just what every kid needs, a fifty-four year old bear," Justin smirked.

"He's actually closer to eighty." Justin's eyes went wide. "My great grandmother gave him to my dad when he was a baby, then his mother gave it to me, now I'm giving it to Shannon and I hope that he will someday give it to his grandson."

"You never told me the bear is a family heirloom," Justin said. Brian simply shrugged and went about getting ready to go.

When they got to Muncherville, everyone was already there. Brian had Ardal in a gift bag. They walked into the house, removed their coats and gave them to Lindsay, who took them to one of the bedrooms and then went to join everyone else in the living room. Everyone sat and talked for a while; catching up on the things that had happened since the last time they saw each other. Brian was amazed at how beautiful his grandson was. He had his mother's fiery red hair and bright green eyes, but other than that he looked just like Gus, which meant he looked just like Brian. Lucky kid. Shannon started to fuss and Erin picked him up.

"It's time for his nap," she said as she started to get up and leave the room.

"May I?" Brian asked to the surprise of many, though Justin was almost expecting it. Erin smiled.

"Of course."

Brian stood and walked over to her, taking Shannon from his mother. He walked over and picked up the gift bag, then headed up to the guest bedroom. He lay Shannon down on the bed and smiled at him, stretching out beside him. Brian pulled Ardal out of the bag and showed him to the boy, who immediately began to laugh and giggle, reaching for the bear. Brian let him take it and then looked at him.

"I bet a story would help you get to sleep, wouldn't it, sonny boy?" he asked. The little boy was too enthralled with the bear to really pay attention so Brian decided to just tell the story anyway.

"Once upon a time in the far off land of Ireland there lived a magical bear. This bear had been blessed by leprechauns with good luck and gifted by fairies to protect any who possessed him. There were only two things that the bear did not have and they were a home, and a name.

"One day when the bear was strolling through the countryside he came upon an old woman. She looked very sad.

"'What's the matter?' the bear asked the old woman.

"'I am in need of a gift for my grandson, yet I have no money. His birthday is next week and I can not raise enough money in time to get him anything.' The bear pondered what the old woman said and then he smiled.

"'You may give him me,' he said. The old woman looked very confused. I am a magical bear,' he said. 'With the powers of luck and protection, but I am in need of a home. You may give me to your grandson as a gift. I will keep him safe from harm and bestow upon him my good luck in exchange for a home.'

"'Oh thank you, kind bear,' the old woman said. With a smile on her face she picked him up and carried him home to her grandson. The bear was very happy with the boy for quite some time at first. But one day when the boy came home, the bear was very sad.

"'What's wrong, bear?' said the boy as he came to sit beside the bear.

"'While I am happy to play with you, I am sad because I still have no name,' the bear said. The boy pondered this a while and then he smiled.

"'I shall call you Ardal,' the boy said with a grin. The bear smiled at him.

"'Ardal, such a lovely name.' So the boy took the bear to his mother. She took the bear's vest off and quickly embroidered a little green shamrock on his vest to show that he was a lucky bear, and underneath the shamrock she embroidered his name. The boy and the bear played together happily for many years until the boy got older. Soon he decided he was much too old to be playing with bears so he locked the bear away in the closet. This made the bear very sad.

"Many years later the boy's mother was going through his closet when she came across the bear. She could see that he was very sad indeed having been locked away for so long.

'"I bet you would like a new companion, wouldn't you?' she asked the bear.

"'Oh yes,' he said. 'I am very lonely. I will bring good luck and protection to any who own me,' the bear said.

"'You see,' said the boy's mother. 'My son has grown into a man and has a son of his own. I would like very much if you could keep my grandson safe and happy for me.' The bear smiled and agreed, so the next day the bear was presented to the woman's grandson. Now this baby was no ordinary baby. Of all the babies the bear had seen in all his years of existence, this baby was by far the most beautiful. The bear was in awe of the baby's beauty." Brian couldn't keep the smirk off his face.

"'I swear to you that his beauty shall not fade, and it shall pass down to his children. He will grow happy and healthy and find true love. All under my protection.' The woman smiled, knowing that the bear would keep his word. And protection the baby needed. For since he had forgotten the bear, the boy's father had grown very cruel. He was jealous of the boy's beauty and hated him, saying he had never wanted him to be born. Whenever the boy's father got angry, he would hit the boy. When the boy was finally able to escape from his father he would curl up in his bed with the bear and the bear would keep him safe. The boy kept the bear with him wherever he went in the hopes that the bear would keep his father from hitting him.

"But, as all boys do, he started to grow and felt he no longer needed the bear, though he did not lock him away as the boy's father did. He simply set him on a self in his room, so he could overlook the boy as he slept. Though the bear really wanted to play with the boy, he was content to keep him safe and happy in sleep.

"When the time came for the boy to leave him, the bear thought surely he would be left behind, for that is what the boy's father had done. But the boy was insistent that the bear come with him, packing him away in one of the many boxes of things he would take with him. Unfortunately the boy was very busy in his new home and he completely forgot about the bear. One night, in the boy's new home, he began to become afraid. Though he was a man, he had fearful dreams of the times when his father would hit him. When he awoke from the third of such dreams he’d had in a row, he remembered what kept the bad dreams away before. He tore through every box he owned until finally he found the bear. He put the bear on a shelf above his bed so the bear could watch over him in sleep, keeping the bad dreams away. Once again the bear was happy.

"Several years later it was time for the boy to move again. He’d become successful just as the bear promised. Everything the bear said had come true. He was beautiful, and successful and healthy, but he was not happy and he had not yet found true love. He was beginning to give up all hope, thinking the bear had lied, until, one night, he saw an angel in the streets. The boy knew right away this was his true love, though he denied it at first. The boy and the angel were together for just a short time before tragedy befell them. A wicked man tried to take the angel away from the boy, but the bear kept his word and kept the angel safe, for not only did he protect his owner, but also those his owner truly loved. Once the angel was well again they were happy. The boy took the angel to meet his grandmother, who made him promise to take good care of the angel, and of the bear.

"Shortly after, though, tragedy befell the angel and the boy once again. An evil musician put a spell on the angel, making him think that the boy did not love him, which was totally a lie. But the spell was almost impossible to break; even the bear's magic could not help. So the boy was left alone. Then, the boy became very sad when his grandmother died. He’d always felt safe and loved when he was with her, she meant everything to him, so he was very, very sad. The night his grandmother died, the terrible dreams of his evil father returned. He tried on his own for an entire week before he realized he needed help. So he dug in his closet until he found the bear once again and even though he was a grown man, he held the bear tight in his arms and fell asleep.

"Now, the bear did keep his promise that true love and happiness would come to the boy. Once again the boy put the bear on a shelf. He was going to lock the bear away again, afraid what people might think of him. But then he remembered his promise to his grandmother and decided that what other people thought didn't matter. So the bear stayed on a shelf just above his bed to watch over him in his sleep and vanquish the awful dreams. During the time that he sat on the boy's shelf, the bear discovered a way to break the evil spell on the angel that was the boy's one true love. Soon after the angel returned home to the boy. Many years passed, the bear keeping his post on the shelf above the bed. The boy wanted to give the bear to his own son, but he was afraid if he did that his nightmares would return. Fear made him keep the bear, for he was not ready to give him up.

"After another long period of time, the boy and the angel were out and the cleaning lady came and put the bear in the closet, not knowing that he was supposed to stay on the shelf above the bed. However, when the boy and the angel returned home, they did not notice that the bear was missing. In fact, they did not find that the bear was missing until the next morning. It was at that moment that the boy realized the bear had kept him safe and happy, but only for so long. Eventually the angel's magic began to overpower the bear's, keeping him safe and happy. The boy was slightly saddened that he no longer needed the bear, but he then realized what he could do, for his son had recently had a son of his own. A son that would need good luck and protection, a son that would need the promise of happiness and good fortune. And that, my boy, is you."

By the time the story was over, the boy was fast sleep. He knew the child was too young to understand the story, but he enjoyed telling it nonetheless. Since it was just him and his grandson he felt no embarrassment about admitting to sleeping with the bear even into his early thirties, and even to needing the bear within sight into his fifties. Brian had been propped up on his elbow the whole time. He decided that he too could use a little nap. Placing one hand gently on Shannon's stomach to insure the boy didn't fall off the bed, Brian rested his head on the pillow and soon drifted off.

Justin had gone up to make sure that everything was going okay when he heard Brian telling the story. He stood outside the door and listened. It took everything in him to keep from laughing out loud when Brian referred to Ethan as the evil musician. As he listened on he realized that there was something he had missed about his lover. He and Brian never really discussed the reason Ardal sat on a shelf above their bed. He felt a surge of guilt knowing that his lover had been haunted by nightmares of his childhood and he never even noticed.

When Brian got to the end of the story, Justin smiled. So that was why he wanted to pass Ardal on. He finally felt safe without the bear. Justin was a little amazed that it took so long for Brian to realize that he didn't need his so called security blanket anymore, but it didn't really matter. When Justin heard Brian's breathing even out he knew that the older man was asleep. He quietly opened the door and pulled the blanket up just enough to cover both Brian and Shannon. Justin leaned down and kissed Brian's cheek.

"Don't worry, Brian. Your angel will keep you safe." He smoothed the hair back from Brian's forehead before going to join the others.
 

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