Hormonal Shift

Chapter 1

“So did you tell them?” came a question.  A set of very determined eyes were staring up at him.  He sighed as he rolled his own hazel eyes.

“No I didn’t.  Not yet anyway.”

“Gus!”

“I know.”

“No, I don’t think you do.  I found us a place.”

“You did?  Already?”

“What do you mean, already?!  I do work in a real estate office.  I know how to look for vacant apartments,” Ray said.  Gus thought about it for a minute.

“Isn’t that illegal or something?  Like insider trading?”  Now it was Ray’s turn to sigh.

“No.  Besides, the apartment wasn’t listed yet.  A classmate of mine is about to go back home.  He and his roommates are moving out soon.  I told him to give me a heads up so I can talk with the management company.”

“Roommates.  Just how big is this place?  We can’t afford anything larger than a postage stamp,” Gus grumbled.

It was the middle of January 2023.  The world for our family on the lane was almost back to normal.  The holidays came and went relatively quietly.  Bree had calmed down considerably after several chats with her Aunts Molly and Rachel, JR and a visit to her doctor.  She was assured that she was a normal young lady going through what normal young ladies have gone through since young ladies existed.  Bree was determined not to be too much of a brat and channeled her confusing hormones back into the sports she loved.

Patrick was much happier.  As well as all the men of the lane who were breathing again.

Gus had finally graduated with multiple degrees.  He was tired and begged Brian not to have a big party.  All Gus wanted to do was sleep for a week and spend some quality time with family and with Ray.  Ray was also working his ass off.  Law school, working part time with his dad and any other businesses that would have him, and interviewing at law firms across the city.  He had several glowing references from Bobby and his professors.  All he had to do was make a decision but he was so tired that he was having trouble focusing, and then there was his not so little problem with Gus.  Their parents all pitched in to send the boys on a well deserved holiday.  Gus and Ray were currently resting between rounds at the Piece of Plenty B&B in St. Augustine.

“I know.  It’s a studio with a tiny kitchen area that basically has a mini stove, small refrigerator and an equally tiny sink.  How three big guys managed to live there for two years and not kill each other is a mystery.”  Ray pulled out his phone to show Gus pictures of the apartment.

“My bedroom at the cottage looks bigger than that,” Gus commented as he scrolled through the photos.

“Yeah, but it’s what we can afford,” Ray stated.  “Gus, are you sure you want to do this?  You’ve lived in Pittsburgh all your life.  This is a big step.”

“And you’ve lived with your parents in the Village all your life.  At least I went away to college, you just walk around the corner, more or less,” Gus growled.

“Are we having our first argument?” Ray asked with a frown after a few moments.

“No, just a heated discussion,” Gus replied as he bucked up to press his groin against Ray’s, their bodies immediately reacted.  Youth.

“Sex is not going to solve this,” Ray said as he nibbled on Gus’ chin.

“No, but it can’t hurt,” Gus said as he flipped Ray over.  Gus was beginning to take after Brian in many more ways than just his looks.  He was just sweeter about it than his dad.

“When is it going to be my turn?” Ray asked.

“Later,” Gus replied as the next round began.

*****

“Isn’t this stuff old?” Melanie mumbled as she, Lindsay, Brian and Justin walked around the loft.  Brian was inspecting the place in anticipation of Gus moving in.  Brian was also hoping that Gus was ready to take more of an active role in Kinnetik but Brian didn’t want to push his luck.  Brian and Justin had decided they would front Gus six months rent while Gus settled in and either began to draw a paycheck from Kinnetik or anywhere else Gus wanted to work.  After that Gus would have to make it on his own.

“Old?  It’s not old, it’s classic,” Brian griped.  “This is Italian leather, it’s timeless,” Brian said as he ran his hand over one of the buttery soft cream colored surfaces.  “Besides it was good enough for you when you stayed here a few years ago,” Brian snapped.

“Typical Kinney arrogance,” Melanie grumbled as she climbed the few steps into the infamous bedroom.  “Oh god!”  She cursed as she realized what she was staring at.  Then she quickly returned to the kitchen where she felt safe.

“Are you all right?” Lindsay asked Mel.

“Fine.  This place still gives me the creeps,” Mel whispered to Lindsay.  Lindsay giggled as she nodded.

“Can you imagine all the men that have been a ‘guest’ here?” Lindsay whispered back.

“Please don’t remind me,” Melanie sneered.  Mel was a bit surprised how well she and Lindsay were getting along.  They had both found an inner peace and could now concentrate on the important things in life.  And nothing could be more important than the health and happiness of their children.

“What are you staring at, Sunshine?” Brian asked as he looked through the closets.  They both kept a few clothes here as did John and Bobby.  All four men had access for emergency purposes and for when business required them to stay in the city.

Justin turned to give Brian a brilliant smile.

“Ah.”  Brian understood.  “We could kick the women out and have a little playtime,” Brian suggested with a waggle of his eyebrows.  Justin burst out into laughter.  Brian, delighted to hear Justin’s unbridled laugh, drew the younger man into his arms for a kiss.

“Love you,” Justin murmured.

“Love you too, Sunshine.”

*****

Brian sauntered into Emmett's Place.  He thought he'd like some decent coffee, and since he hadn't seen Emmett for quite a while, he thought he could kill two birds with one stone and catch up with the tall queen.

Justin had headed to the gallery with Lindsay once they were finished at the loft.  Brian was pleased that Lindsay didn't seem too resentful of Mel's return and her job at Kinnetik.  He wished he could say the same about Michael.

Melanie had gone downstairs from the loft to see how things were progressing with her apartment.  She could hardly wait to move in.  She was learning to love the idea of living in the building on Tremont.  Now that Brian had pronounced that he was okay with her working at Kinnetik, everything seemed to be so much easier.  Her life was falling into place.  She knew that she and Brian would probably never be friends, but she vowed to do the best she could possibly do at her job, and she was determined not to let her old feelings about Brian Kinney ruin her return to Pittsburgh.

Brian stopped just inside the door of the bistro.  He watched his friend who was behind the bar talking on his phone.  Brian nodded in his direction and Emmett gestured toward his special table where Brian should have a seat.  Brian sat down and frowned as he viewed a somewhat agitated Emmett Honeycutt.

Finally Emmett brought the phone away from his ear and smacked it down unceremoniously onto the bar.

Brian frowned again.  "Hey, Honeycutt, can I get some service?" he asked in his usual flip manner.  He wondered if that would make Emmett return to the happy persona that Brian usually associated with him.

"Of course you can," Emmett said rather sharply, after he drew in a long breath and seemed to steady himself.  "And don't call me Honeycutt."

The corners of Brian's lips curled up slightly.  That was more like the Emmett he knew so well.  "Coffee," he ordered.  "Care to join me?"

The hesitation before Emmett agreed to the request made Brian wonder what was going on.  Finally Emmett arrived with two steaming mugs of coffee and slid into the booth beside Brian.

"Chef is just taking some popovers out of the oven.  They'll be out in a minute," he informed Brian.

Brian groaned.  "You know I can't eat just one," he complained.

"Oh pooh, you could stand a little meat on your bones."

"I've spent my whole life trying to keep meat off these bones."

"Haven't we all," Emmett said, the smile gone from his face.

"I hate to ask," Brian said with a sigh, "but is everything all right?  You didn't seem too happy with that phone conversation.  Trouble with a supplier?" he asked wondering if it was something as simple as that. 

Emmett shook his head.  He looked lost for a moment before he was able to regain his composure.  "I'm fine," he said hoping that would satisfy Brian.

Brian decided it was time to take the bull by the horns, so to speak.  "Don't try to bullshit me, Honeycutt.  I can smell it a mile away." 

Chef set a plate of popovers in front of the two men.

"Eat a popover and leave me alone," Emmett said trying to slide out of the booth.  Brian's hand clasped around Emmett's wrist and halted his progress.  "Let me go, Brian," Emmett said trying to free his arm.

"When you don't object to me calling you Honeycutt, I know something's really wrong.  So you might as well tell me.  I can sit here from now till the dinner rush."  Brian's brow furrowed as he stared at Emmett.

Emmett tried to look away, but he had already seen the determination in Brian's eyes.  He knew he would have to come clean or Brian would literally keep him prisoner until he did.  He contemplated lying, but Brian was good at smelling that, maybe even more than he was at smelling bullshit.

"I really don't want to talk about this," Emmett said. 

Brian merely waited, his hand firmly wrapped around Emmett's wrist.  Finally he felt Emmett relax and he released his hold.  "So tell me."

Emmett sighed.  "How do you manage to stay so good looking?" he asked out of nowhere.

"I'll always be young and beautiful," Brian said with a wry smile, quoting Michael's old statement about him.

"I wish I could."

"Could what?" Brian asked with a frown.

"Stay young and beautiful," Emmett said softly.

"You're still a good looking man," Brian stated.  "Us tall, slender types have an advantage that way."

"Thanks for including me in the same group as you, but it's not true.  I've gotten old and fat."  Emmett's face screwed up with dissatisfaction.

"Where the fuck is this coming from?" Brian demanded.  He grabbed a popover and broke it open.  He groaned with satisfaction as he took his first bite.

Emmett sighed heavily.  He decided he might as well spill everything to Brian.  He could use someone as a sounding board.  "That was Drew on the phone," he said softly.

"So what did he do to piss you off?" Brian asked as he savored another bite of his popover.

"He's been on a tour for the Ironmen, trying to increase the number of people buying yearly subscriptions for the coming year.  He was supposed to be home this afternoon, but..."

"He's not coming home," Brian supplied.  Emmett nodded.  "So what?  If he has business to do, what's wrong with that.  You'll see him in a couple of days."

"Maybe..." Emmett said leaving the rest of that sentence hanging.

Brian frowned.  "Are you two having trouble?" he asked.  He hoped that wasn't the case.

"Lately ... Drew doesn't seem very ... interested."

"You're not twenty-five anymore, and neither is he," Brian reminded his friend.

"Thanks for reminding me that I'm old," Emmett stated.

"You're not old.  Christ, you're younger than me."

"That may be true, but I feel old.  Drew just isn't very interested in me anymore."

"Then make him interested."

"How the fuck am I supposed to do that?" Emmett demanded.

"You'll figure it out," Brian said as he stood up.  "I have to go."

"Take these home for Justin," Emmett said as he took the basket of popovers to the bar and grabbed a bag from behind the counter.

"You're just trying to make me fat so that you look better."

"If only it was that easy," Emmett said as he handed the bag to Brian.

"Hey, it's not like you to give up.  You can fix things," Brian said definitively before he walked out of the bistro carrying his popovers.

Emmett watched him leave, his mind already racing with possible things he could do to stimulate his partner.

*****

“Rosencrantz!” Brian shouted as he sauntered into Kinnetik.  He headed for his office to carefully stow away his prize and waited until his summons was answered.  He didn’t have to wait long; Ted practically slid into his office.  Brian was impressed.  Schmidt was the eldest member of their original gang.  How Ted managed to stay so spry was a mystery Brian was sure he wouldn’t solve.

“Maybe there’s magic in those kettle drums,” Brian murmured to himself as he gestured to Ted to take a seat on the sofa.  He considered offering Ted a popover but then Brian would want one and the rest would never make it home.

“You wanted to see me, Boss?” Ted asked in that worried way he had.

“Relax, this has nothing to do with business other than I’d like your opinion on how Mel is doing, but that can wait.  What’s going on with Guildenstern?  I just came from the bistro and I don’t like what I saw.”

Ted did a quick mental translation of the Brian-speak before venturing an answer.  “Emmett thinks that Drew is cheating on him,” Ted said plainly.                                      

“What?”  Brian was truly shocked.  He didn’t think that ‘cheating’ was part of Drew’s vernacular.  Well, not since he and Emmett became an inseparable couple.  What came before Drew acknowledged his true self didn’t count.  Besides it was a hell of a long time ago.  Emmett, Drew and Richie were a family.  Brian couldn’t see Drew doing anything to fuck that up.

“Is there evidence?” Brian asked.

“Not that I can see but in Emmett’s mind...”  Ted just shrugged.  Brian nodded.  Who knew what went on in Emmett’s brain.  Brian shook himself.

“Keep an eye on him.”

“Who, Drew?”  Ted lost Brian’s thought process.

“Not him, Emmett.  He might need you, us.  I’ll talk to Linds.  Candy and Richie are close; maybe he said something to her.”

“Emmett said something to Candy?” 

Brian rolled his eyes.  “Asshole.  Richie and Candy; Richie may have said something to Candy and then talked to Lindsay.”

“Ohhh, okay.”  The light finally dawned.

“Now what about Melanie?”  Brian switched back from concerned friend to boss.

“I don’t think Emmett would say anything to Melanie.”  Brian was ready to strangle Ted but then saw that thin lipped smirk.  Brian shook his head and waited.

“Melanie has been sitting in on our meetings with our local accounts.  We had quite a few that were up for renewal.  Several of them we had snatched away from Vance years ago.  Those are always a challenge.  She did well, all were renegotiated with a minimum of fuss.  Everyone walked away happy.  I don’t know why we didn’t think of this sooner.”

“Probably because we were still in “we can do it all by ourselves” mode,” Brian muttered.

“That’s some admission,” Justin announced as he came into the office.  It had been a long time since Justin spent time in the old converted bathhouse.  He walked over to Brian and gave him a kiss then Justin hugged Ted.  Brian arched a brow.  Since when did Justin get all touchy-feely with Ted?  Was the whole world surging with hormones?

“Bri, let’s stay here for a few days,” Justin pronounced as he stripped off his gloves, hat, scarf, and coat.  He found the stash of popovers and began to devour them.

“Here,” Brian stately blandly.

“Here, in the city.  At the loft.”  Justin unceremoniously plopped his ass in Brian’s chair as he bit into another popover then he began to spin himself around.

“I think I hear my phone ringing,” Ted said as he quickly let himself out of the office before he could witness anything serious that he’d have to testify about.

“What are you up to, Sunshine?” Brian asked as he sat on the edge of his own desk then took away the bag of popovers before Justin could eat them all.

“Mrs. Peel, I think we’re needed,” Justin said with a smirk. 

Brian’s eyebrows receded into his hairline.  “I should have never let you watch that Avenger marathon.  So does this make you Steed?”  Brian leaned in so that they were nose to nose.

“You’d look much better in a catsuit than I would.  You have the legs for it.”

“And I suppose you’d look better in a bowler hat,” Brian stated.

“Of course!” Justin said as he fished around in the paper bag for another popover.

“You won’t be looking good in anything if you keep on eating like that.”

“You’ll help me work it off tonight at the loft,” Justin stated with confidence.

“Awfully, sure of yourself.”

“Yep.”

“What about the Squirt?’

“Already taken care of.”

“And clothes?  We have some stuff but...”

“You’re done here, right?  Let’s go shopping,” Justin declared as he sprang out of Brian’s chair.

“You’re being very bossy,” Brian observed as he packed up his briefcase including what was left of the popovers.  They both bundled up against the cold Pittsburgh winter.

“Yee Haw!” was all that Justin said as he led his Mrs. Peel out of Kinnetik.

*****

A stomach growled.  Loudly.

“Someone’s hungry.”

“It’s been a while since lunch.”

“So let’s go out.”

“It’s dark.”

“Since when are you afraid of the dark?”

“I am not afraid of the dark,” he hissed.

“Then what’s your problem?”

“My problem is OUR problem.  We reek.  We need a shower then get dressed then find someplace that’s open.  If you haven’t noticed by now we’re in the middle of a small tourist town in the off season.  Everything closes at five!”

“Gus, what the fuck is wrong with you?  And don’t give me some garbage about you not knowing, or there’s nothing wrong or any other bullshit you think you can pull with me.  Do you still want us to live together?”

“Yes,” Gus replied without hesitation.

“So what the fuck is going on in that beautiful head of yours?”  Ray gently thumped Gus on the head.

“I don’t want to hurt my Dad.  He really wants me to take over Kinnetik someday.”

“And who says you won’t?  Kinnetik has a branch in New York.  Who says you have to run Kinnetik from Pittsburgh?”

“But the loft, he’s kept it just for me.  Hell, he bought the whole fucking building because he doesn’t want anyone else living in that loft.”

“Bree.”

“What?”

“Bree.  You know Bree wants to be a part of Kinnetik.  She proved that when she spent the summer at Kinnetik.”

“Yeah, and Dad says she still butts in.  She even has her own clients.”

“So who’s to say which Kinney your dad is saving the loft for.  And who knows, maybe I’ll decide to live there with you.  Do we have to make a permanent decision now?” Ray asked.

“No, we don’t.  I’m only twenty-two.  What kid has his whole life planned out at twenty-two?”

“Right.  I already have an appointment with the management company.  When I get back home, I’ll see how long a lease we have to sign.  Some want just a year, some will let you sign for two.  These small apartments in the older buildings are start ups.  Very few choose to live there permanently so they have a short lease.”

“It seems like you’ve got this under control.”

“I may not have my whole life planned out but I do know about apartments.  My Dad works with a lot on student housing and short term leases.  I took good notes,” Ray quipped.

“I’m very glad you did,” Gus purred as he rolled over onto Ray.  Just then a stomach announced itself.  “We better go find food.”

“Shower first!”  Ray gingerly inhaled then wrinkled his nose.  Gus laughed and kissed said nose.

“Maybe Seamus will take pity on us and let us raid his refrigerator,” Gus said as he got up and reached his hand towards Ray.

“Good thinking.”  Ray clasped the proffered hand then hoisted himself up.  They donned their robes, grabbed some towels then went to shower off a day's worth of sex. 

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