The Candidate

Part 7

Justin straightened up Daphne's apartment trying to make some of the clutter less obvious.  He was expecting Greg Harris, the reporter, in a few minutes.  He had decided to hold the meeting there rather than at the loft.  He wanted to make it clear to Harris that he lived somewhere other than with Brian.

 

He still had real misgivings about this article that Harris wanted to write.  He wasn't sure how much he could trust the man.  The last thing he wanted was another bad report about Brian, and his role in the bashing could be construed that way, if Harris wanted to do so.

 

Finally he was finished.  The place still looked crowded and cramped, but at least it was relatively presentable.  He checked the fridge for beer and soft drinks, so that he could offer one to the reporter.

 

He heard a knock on the door, took a deep breath and pulled it open.

 

"Hello, Mr. Taylor," Greg said, extending his hand.

 

Justin took it and shook briefly.  "Call me Justin," he said.  "Mr. Taylor is my father."  He made a slight face at the mention of that man, but thankfully Greg didn't notice or chose to ignore the reaction.

 

Justin gestured to the futon and Greg sat down. 

 

"Would you like a beer or a soft drink?" Justin asked.

 

"A Coke would be great," Greg replied.  "I've been on the run all day.  That would hit the spot."

Justin got out a can of Coke and a glass for his guest.  Greg popped the tab and drank straight from the can.  Justin set the glass back in the tiny kitchen and grabbed a Coke for himself.  He too took a drink from the can.

 

"I really appreciate that you agreed to do this interview and help me get the facts straight for my article."

 

"I hope the facts will be correct when the article actually appears in the newspaper," Justin replied, eyeing Greg warily.

 

"You don't like or trust reporters, do you?"

"No."

Greg chuckled.

 

"What?" Justin asked.

 

"You sounded so much like Mr. Kinney when you answered that question.  He never explains himself unless he's pushed to."

 

Justin stared at him for a moment.  "And do you know why that is?"

"I'm sure you're going to tell me."

"Because the more you say, the more there is to use against you.  It's all too easy to take words and make them appear to be something they're not."

 

"Is that what you think I'm going to do?"

"If I believed that, we wouldn't be doing this at all," Justin said bluntly.

 

"So why are we?"

"The interview you did with Brian was one of the best I've seen in the local papers.  You stuck to the facts and didn't try to paint him as something he isn't.  I'm hoping you'll do the same with me."

"That's exactly what I want to do," Greg said as sincerely as he could make his voice sound.

 

"So what exactly do you need to know?" Justin asked.

 

"I want the focus of this article to be homophobia," Greg explained.  "That was the cause of your bashing, wasn't it?"

"Yes," Justin said softly, not relishing the prospect of going through those events again.

 

Greg saw the change in the young man and softened his stance.  "It must be very painful for you to recall," he said.

 

"It is."

"Are you going to be all right with this?  I could come back another time," Greg offered.

 

"Another time won't make it any easier," Justin said, unconsciously rubbing the spot on his temple.

 

They spent the next two hours going over the story of Brian and Justin and the bashing.  Justin was careful what he revealed about his relationship with the older man.  He knew some of what had happened between them needed to stay between only them.  However, he also wanted the true story of Chris Hobbs to come out.

 

"Why did you ask Brian to come to your prom?" Greg asked.  "Didn't you know it would cause trouble?"

"I suppose I did," Justin admitted.  "My friend Daphne had said that people's heads would explode if I arrived with Brian.  I would have liked to have seen that.  I hated most of my time at St. James, especially that last year.  After I came out, I was taunted and pushed around by Hobbs and some of the other jocks.  They got their jollies picking on me, hip-checking me into lockers, setting my belongings on fire.  A little payback seemed like a good thing."

 

"But Brian refused to go with you."

"Yeah," Justin admitted.  "He thought I was nuts for even asking him."

 

"So why do you think he showed up?"

"We've never really discussed that.  Sometimes it's very difficult to understand Brian's motivation, and he rarely explains, as you've already found out."

"That's for sure," Greg chuckled.  "But you must have some idea why he ultimately decided to attend."

"I like to think he did it for me," Justin said wistfully.  "When I asked him he said he was recapturing his lost youth, but I think it was much more than that.  He was making some kind of statement to me, to St. James, to the powers that be … to himself."

"Statement?" Greg pursued, wanting more clarification.

 

"Brian's a very private person in a lot of ways.  Appearing at that prom was a big deal.  I can't remember any of it, but Daph says that his eyes were as big as saucers when he walked in.  She said he looked a bit like a deer caught in the headlights.  It was a major gesture on his part."

 

"And it turned out so badly."

"Yeah."

"Did you ever discuss this with him?"

"Only in little bits and pieces here and there.  It's a pretty painful subject for both of us."

 

"I can imagine."

 

Justin thought about the look on Brian's face the few times they had tried to discuss the prom and what happened there.  It was more painful for Brian because he could remember it all.  Justin only knew what people had told him about that night.  And he knew the aftermath, the coma, the rehab, the loneliness, the fear."

 

"So what do you think about Chris Hobbs' sentence?"

 

"I think it was a fucking travesty!  Where's the justice in giving him community service in an AIDS hospice, so he can be miserable to the sick people who are spending their last days there?"

"Is that where they sent him?" Greg asked in disbelief.

 

"Yeah, I ran into him there once," Justin said making a face.

 

"You did?  That must have been interesting."

"Interesting doesn't begin to describe it.  He asked if I had AIDS as soon as he saw me.  When I told him I didn't, he said I'd get it eventually.  All us fags ended up that way."

"Do you think that helped motivate you to work against Stockwell?"

"Not on a conscious level, but I'm sure it molded my beliefs and the need to work against intolerance."

 

"Well, I think we've covered most of the things I want to include in my article.  Do you have any statement that you would like to make?"

Justin thought for a minute.  "I guess I would say that I'm not so different from anyone else.  I've had problems and difficulties just like everyone.  All we can do is stand up for ourselves and what we believe in, and not let the persecutors beat us down."

 

"I hope you will like the article I'm going to write.  I'll try to do justice to your story."

"Thanks," Justin said as he closed the door behind the reporter.

 

The interview had brought up a lot of unpleasant memories, but it had also reminded Justin that there were some things he would like answers to.  Maybe it was time he talked to Brian.

******************************************

 

Hours later Justin lay in bed with Brian.  They were sufficiently fucked to be pleasantly tired and calm.  Brian had called him needing to relieve some of the tension that being on public display all the time caused.

 

"That was nice," Justin said as they shifted around getting comfortable.

 

"Just nice?" Brian asked.

 

"Nice, in a mind-blowing, earth-shattering, heart-pounding kind of way."

Brian chuckled.  "Oh?"

 

"I had my interview with Greg today," Justin stated.

 

"How did it go?"

"All right."

"Is that all?  You're not very talkative tonight."

"He raised some issues that I think we should discuss."

Justin saw a look of concern, maybe even fear, wash across Brian's face.

"What sort of things?" Brian asked warily.

 

"He asked me why you came to my prom."

"What did you tell him?"

"That you were making a statement."

"And what statement might that be?"

"The one telling everybody 'Go fuck yourself'."

 

"There was certainly an element of that to it," Brian admitted with a smirk.

 

"Why did you come?" Justin asked softly, and Brian knew he wanted the truth.  He wasn't sure he could admit it though.

 

"You asked me."

"And you turned me down."

 

Brian sighed.  "I had just turned thirty.  I wanted to recapture my lost youth.  Don't you remember?"

"You know I don't remember any of it," Justin stated.

 

Brian grimaced and his hand touched Justin's forehead gently letting his fingers brush over the scar.

 

"Well, that's why I came, to pretend that I was eighteen again."

 

"Don't shit me, Brian."

Brian sucked in his lips in that way that said he was thinking, and either going to make some outrageous, asshole statement or tell the truth.  Justin prayed for the truth.

 

"I was trying to tell you something," Brian admitted.

 

"Tell me what?"

"It doesn't matter now.  You forgot it all anyway," Brian said remembering the sight of Justin lying on that cold concrete floor.

 

"I didn't forget, Brian.  Chris Hobbs beat it out of my skull."

Justin saw Brian shiver at his words.  The man still couldn't face the reality of that night without it shaking him to the core.

 

"Our timing is really the shits, you know," Brian said.

 

"What do you mean?"

"Remember when we were supposed to go to Vermont together?"

"Yes," Justin said slowly.  He wondered why Brian was bringing up that less than stellar event in both their lives.

 

"That was bad timing too."

"I don't understand what one has to do with the other," Justin admitted.

 

"I really wanted to go with you," Brian said.

 

"Did you?"

 

"Yes, but then Vance gave me a week to prove my worth to the company or he would fire me.  That trip to Chicago was the only hope of saving my job."

"Why couldn't you have told me that instead of packing and leaving without telling me anything?"

"Why couldn't you have told me that you were going to Vermont … alone?"

"At that point I didn't think you cared."

"I … cared."

"So we had bad timing.  We also had bad communication.  I was hoping things had improved."

Brian looked into Justin's blue eyes.  He contemplated fucking Justin again and making him forget all about this conversation, but that wouldn't really improve their communication skills.  It would merely delay the inevitable.

 

"You went to Vermont and I went to Chicago," Brian continued.  "I got the contract with Brown Athletics and I made partner as a result."

 

"I went to Vermont alone and had a pretty miserable time without you.  I came back to find you fucking a trick in our bed."

"And that was the beginning of the end."

 

"Yeah, I guess it was," Justin admitted.  "That hurt me … a lot."

 

Brian leaned in and kissed Justin's lips briefly.

 

"You hurt me too," he said.

 

"I did?  How?"

"After I made Vance accept me as partner, I came to the loft looking for you.  I had a bottle of champagne to celebrate."  Brian stopped, wondering if he could tell Justin everything that had happened that night.

 

"But I wasn't there," Justin supplied.

 

"I opened the loft door," Brian said reliving that night in his head.  "I called out to you.  I said, 'Hey Sunshine, your partner just made partner!'  But the place was empty."

Justin stared at Brian allowing the import of his words to wash over him.  If he had only been there that night he would have heard Brian say those words to him.  He would have been so happy.

 

"You said that?" Justin asked.

 

"I said it to the empty air, another grand gesture gone to waste.  See what I mean about timing.  Ours sucks!"

"Yeah, it does."

"What did you do when I wasn't there, run out and find a trick?"

"Believe it or not, I went looking for you.  I went to Woody's and Babylon.  The guys were going into Babylon when I found them.  I asked if they knew where you were.  I told them I had big news."

"You thought I was still in Pittsburgh?"

"I never thought you'd go without me.  They told me where you were.  I felt like such a fool.  I even asked them if you went alone."

 

"Who did you think I would go with?"

"I don't know, a trick, somebody you found at the last minute.  I thought you were trying to punish me for letting you down."

 

"I'd never do that," Justin said.

 

"I would, and I guess I based what I thought you would do on how I would have reacted."

"So were you punishing me when I came back to find you fucking that guy?"

"Not directly.  I was making another statement, that I didn't need you, that I could always find a convenient replacement."

 

Brian saw Justin wince at those words.

 

"Do you still feel that way?" Justin asked.

 

"I've tried several replacements since you went off with Ethan, but they just weren't the same."  Brian thought about the hustler with the blond hair and shook his head.

 

"Why didn't you ever tell me all this?"

"Timing," was Brian's only answer.

 

"Why are you admitting it now?"

"You asked me and I decided to be honest.  I want you in my life.  If I get elected mayor, you're going to be in a very funny position."

"What … first lady?" Justin giggled.

 

Brian snorted.  "I wish to Christ I knew!  I don't think this situation has really come up before.  I'm not sure what we will do about it.  Can we go to events together?  Do I have to keep you as my dirty little secret?"

 

"I refuse to be a dirty, little secret," Justin stated, "although that could be kind of kinky.  We could have clandestine rendezvous.  I could sneak in and out of city hall.  We could fuck in your office with city officials on the other side of the door."

"That sounds pretty much like a dirty, little secret to me," Brian whispered at Justin's ear.

 

Brian's warm breath went straight to Justin's cock.  He could feel it stiffen and he groaned.

 

"Kinky," Brian said and began licking Justin's nipples.

 

"You are so bad!" Justin gasped.  Brian's tongue and fingers were having predictable effects on his body.  "Stop for a minute!" he commanded, pushing Brian away from him.

"Are you telling me that you were saying the same thing at the prom that you said when you came to the loft and said we were partners?"

"Yes," Brian said.

 

"OH … MY … GOD!!!!  We really do have pathetic timing."

 

"Except when we fuck.  We always manage to come together." Brian grinned.

 

"Be serious!" Justin ordered.

 

"Enough talk for now," Brian responded.

 

"But…"

 

"Enough!"

 

Justin allowed Brian's mouth and hands to begin working their magic once again.  He had lots to think about … later.

******************************************

 

Greg Harris' article appeared a couple of days later.  It was very fair and was a scathing indictment of the judicial system that let Chris Hobbs get away with a hate crime with next to no punishment. 

 

Justin was quite pleased with the whole thing.  He was also pleased that the article had caused Brian to open up a little bit and tell him some things he needed to hear.  He hoped that boded well for their future together.

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