Kindred Love

Rain On My Parade

Brian, Emmett and Michael walked into the Liberty Diner around 6:00pm. Thank God Debbie had worked the day shift that day, so they didn't have to worry about running into her.

The Diner was busy, and Brian scanned the room for any empty tables, finally spotting one unoccupied booth in the back and led them to it. Michael and Emmett scooted into one side of the booth and Brian sat on the other side. Brian had not been to the Diner in the evening before. It was a totally different atmosphere. The place was filled with lots of hot guys tonight, and it was loud and busy. Brian looked around the diner to see if Carter was there, but he didn't see him.

"It's still early, he'll probably be here soon," Emmett said to Brian.

Kikki came over to take their order and they all just ordered Cokes, since they had been planning to get pizza. They weren't here to eat anyway.

They had been sitting there for a while, and Brian who was lost in his thoughts, sipped on his Coke in silence, not really listening to Emmett jabber on about this and that. They heard the familiar bell from the diner door chime. Brian looked up hopefully to see who came through the door, and was disappointed to see that it was only a couple of boys they knew from school. The two boys walked over to their table.

"Hey, guys, what's up?" The dirty blond asked with a smile, his eyes focused on Brian.

"Hey, Todd, how's it going?" Michael asked with a smile, and then looked at Josh nervously, who was smiling at him.

"Josh and I decided to head over here to see if anything was going on. What are you guys up to tonight?" Todd asked.

"Nothing much, we're just sitting here waiting for Mr. Wonderful," Emmett said with a smile, which earned him a glare and a kick under the table from Brian.

Todd smirked. "You mean he's not already here?" Todd said eying Brian again, which made the brunet blush profusely, and look down at his drink.

"Ooooh, I think somebody's interested," Emmett sang to no one in particular. Brian covered his face with his hand in embarrassment, while Michael just rolled his eyes and let out a quiet laugh.

Brian noticed that Michael had been more quiet since Josh and Todd came over to their table. When he looked up to see Josh eying Michael and smiling at him and Michael smiling back shyly at the handsome light-brown haired boy, he had his answer as to why.

"So, we were thinking of catching a movie or something. You guys want to come?" Todd asked them, but it was as though he was only asking Brian. He'd barely looked at anyone else since walking over to their table.

"Sounds good to me, I heard that new movie with Collin Ferrel is fucking hot," Emmett said enthusiastically.

"Uhh, sure, sounds good," Michael said quietly, and then looked at Brian. "Brian?" he asked his cousin.

"Um, you guys go ahead. I'm going to just hang out here for a while. Maybe I'll meet up with you all later. I'll give you a call," he assured Michael.

"Are you sure?" Michael asked, not really wanting to leave Brian alone.

"Yeah, go on ahead," Brian insisted. He looked at Todd, whose face had fallen into disappointment.

"Well, maybe next time," Todd said.

"Yeah," Brian said back, which made Todd smile. That gave him hope that he'd have a chance to get with the hot new brunet in the near future.

Michael and Emmett scooted out of the booth and said goodbye to Brian before walking out with Josh and Todd. The blond gave Brian another lasting look before walking out the door.

Maybe he was crazy. He just turned down going to the movies and the cute guy who invited him was definitely interested. He shrugged it off. He knew Todd wouldn't lose interest overnight. Brian sat there alone still lost in thought, sipping on his refill, when suddenly a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Well, if it isn't Deb's hot little nephew, all by his lonesome," Carter said, sitting down in the booth across from Brian. He almost laughed at the boy's shocked and startled expression.

"Whoa, kid, relax. I don't bite... too hard," Carter smiled.

Brian was still silent as he stared into those beautiful gray eyes.

"That was a joke," Carter assured.

Brian noticeably relaxed and gave a small smile to the man.

"Did you lose your voice box again?" Carter asked.

"No, I was just surprised, is all," Brian said quietly.

Carter nodded. "So, what are you doing here all by yourself? Mikey get tired of you already?" Carter asked.

"He uh... had plans," Brian said.

"That's a shame," Carter said.

Brian only nodded. He couldn't believe this. He had been waiting two weeks to see this man again, and now he was sitting across from him, and he didn't know what to do. He knew he must have sounded like a complete idiot. The man had caught him off guard. He wasn't expecting him to just show up and sit down at his table.

Carter frowned at the way Brian was looking at him. He looked almost scared. He wondered what people had told the boy about him. They had probably said that he was an asshole and would take advantage of him and then break his heart. He was used to people saying that about him. It was true to a degree. He did have his policy of no repeats. It wasn't his fault that guys would get their feelings hurt when he said he wouldn't be fucking them again. He had his reasons for his rules, one of his biggest reasons being he could do without the drama. His philosophy was:

"You fuck someone more than once, then by the third time they start to get clingy and want to go out on dates. Then they get jealous when you're in the backroom at Babylon getting your dick sucked by someone who's hotter and better than they are, and start queening out in front of everyone, acting like they're surprised by your actions. Like they didn't know the Stud Of Liberty Avenue doesn't DO boyfriends. Nope. No repeats. It just isn't worth the fucking hassle."

Carter decided to try to sooth Brian's fears of him.

"Look, kid, I'm not..."

"I'm NOT a kid. And I have a name," Brian interrupted with a frown on his face.

Carter sighed. Brian was proving a little difficult to talk to. He had to remind himself that he was young, though, even if he didn't look it. Brian could pass for 17 or 18 easily. He had been surprised when Debbie had told him that her nephew was only 14 years old. She had been serious about him not starting anything with Brian too, and had a long talk with him about it, ending the conversation by saying that if he crossed the line with her nephew, she would rip him a new hole so big he would be able to take a cannon up his ass. He had laughed at her threat, but he knew she meant it.

He found Brian attractive, but he wasn't about to take advantage of a 14 year old boy. That wasn't his style. Debbie had also explained that Brian had been through a lot with his family in the last few months and she didn't want him to go through any more suffering, which was something Carter could relate to, considering his own childhood.

"Okay, Brian, I didn't meant to offend you. I just was trying to tell you that I'm not going to hurt you," Carter explained.

"Huh?" Brian asked confused.

"Well, you've got this look on your face like you're afraid I'm going to kidnap you and take you somewhere and have my wicked way with you," Carter pointed.

'I wish,' Brian thought to himself, looking at Carter's handsome face.

"Look, I know you've probably heard some things about me from the queer grape vine, but I want to get one thing straight," Carter said, and paused to see if Brian was really listening to him.

Brian raised an eyebrow and waited, and Carter continued.

"I'm not going to try anything with you. You're 14 years old, for fucks sake. Not only am I not stupid, I don't need to seduce a kid when I can have someone who's experienced and legal," Carter explained.

Brian frowned as he heard Carter's words. It stung a little, but at least the guy was being honest with him.

When Carter looked at Brian, he saw so much of himself in him that it was scary. There was something about Brian's demeanor that spoke volumes in Carter's eyes. He could tell that Brian had been forced to grow up before his time, and had lost a part of himself, namely his innocence, along the way.

For some reason he felt a strong need to reach out to this boy. From what Deb had told him, he knew that whatever Brian had gone through had been rough on him, and he felt he wanted to protect him and help him, if he could, which was a new thing for him. He'd never taken it upon himself to take care of anyone but his own self, because that was how he had come to survive. So when he heard the next words coming out of his own mouth, it surprised even him.

"Look, if you need someone to talk to though, for advice, or just need to vent about anything, you can give me a call," Carter said and wrote down his cell phone number then handed it to Brian, who smiled at the gesture. As he accepted the number, though, suddenly it was apparent that they had company.

"So, what is this, 'Adopt A Kiddie' day?" a man with dark hair stated sarcastically. Brian looked up at the stranger and frowned, then looked at Carter, who was shaking his head and rolling his eyes.

"Brian, this is Mitchell. Mitchell, meet Brian." Mitchell looked at Brian dismissively.

"Carter, I can't believe you are after jailbait. Are you crazy? You know you can have any piece of ass you want, and you're going after HIM?" Mitchell said with an exasperated tone.

"What I'm doing with him is none of your fucking business," Carter shot back.

"What is he, a fucking hustler? Carter, you don't need this. Leave this little tramp here, and let's go to Babylon," Mitchell said, shooting a glare at Brian.

Brian felt his anger rise. "Fuck you, you don't know me," he spat defensively and glared back at the dark haired jerk.

"Look, Carter doesn't want you; he doesn't need you; so why don't you just get the fuck out of here and go play with your G.I. Joe's?" Mitchell told Brian.

Carter pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. Brian took that as his cue to leave. He deliberately dropped the piece of paper with Carter's cell number on the table, then abruptly stood up and stormed out of the diner.

"What the FUCK did you do that for?" Carter demanded, looking at Mitchell.

"What? He was just a kid," Mitchell reasoned.

Carter glared at his friend. "I told you it was none of your fucking business," he yelled.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Let's just forget it. Come on, let's just go to Babylon," Mitchell persisted.

"Maybe later," Carter said, and dropped some bills on the table and went after Brian. When he got outside he could see that it had started to pour down with rain, and wondered where the boy had gone. He rolled his eyes.

"Fuck," Carter said in frustration, and headed to his Jeep. He couldn't let Brian walk home in the this weather. He knew Brian couldn't have gone too far, but he didn't know which direction he had went in.

Carter drove down Liberty Avenue, keeping his eye out for Brian. It started to rain harder, which made it more difficult to look for the boy. He finally spotted someone with Brian's frame with a black hooded jacket crossing the street with his head down to shield his face from the rain, his hands stuffed in his front pockets of the jacket. He had a pretty good idea it was Brian.

He drove closer to the person walking and honked his horn, and when the person turned around to see who was honking, he knew that it was Brian. He rolled down his passenger window.

"Brian, get in the car," Carter called out.

"No," Brian called back and continued walking.

"God Damnit, Brian, get in the fucking car! It's pouring out there!" Carter yelled.

Brian turned to face him again, and reluctantly walked to the Jeep and got into the passenger's side. Carter drove off, shaking his head in frustration.

"Where are we going?" Brian asked.

"My apartment isn't far from here. We should get you into some dry clothes and then, God help me, we're going to have a talk," Carter told Brian.

The trip to Carter's apartment was made in silence. It wasn't long before they reached their destination. When they walked into the apartment, Brian immediately noticed that the spacious room was very tidy. Everything in the the room looked like it was very fine quality. There was a large black leather sofa, and a black marble coffee table in front of it. There was a large flat screen TV, inside of a black wood entertainment center, along with a stereo and DVD player. The entertainment center had several shelves that held CDs and DVDs. The kitchen had all black marble counters. There was a rectangular oak kitchen table under a small chandelier.

"Wow, your place is great," Brian complimented.

Carter smiled. He was used to hearing that. "Thanks. Do you want something to drink?"

"Water?" Brian asked.

Carter nodded and got a bottled water out of the fridge and handed it to Brian.

"Thanks," Brian said quietly, unscrewing the cap and talking a long drink. Carter disappeared into what Brian assumed was his bedroom, and came out a short time later.

"The bathroom is through the bedroom. There's a fresh towel for you in there, and I set out a pair of sweats and a T-shirt on the bed. I know they'll be a little big on you, but at least they're dry. I'll throw your clothes into the dryer and while we wait for them to dry we'll talk. Okay?" Brian nodded his head, and walked to the bathroom.

A short time later, Brian came out dressed in the dry clothes Carter had set out for him. They did turn out to be a little big. Carter had a well-built body, after all. He stared at Brian for a moment, seeing his still-wet hair hanging down over his eyes. He looked hot, and Carter silently cursed the boy for not being older. He shook those thoughts from his head and cleared his throat.

Brian handed Carter the wet clothes, and he walked over to his tiny laundry room and threw the wet clothes into the dryer, then walked back into living room, noticing that Brian was still standing in the same place.

"Have a seat," he gestured to the sofa.

Brian sat down on the soft cushion leather sofa, and leaned his head against the back of it. It was really comfortable. He looked around the living room, and thought about how he would want a place that looked just like this.

"Brian, Mitchell shouldn't have said what he did," Carter said.

Brian looked away from him. "Is that what you think about me? Did you think I was trying hustle you?" Brian wanted to know.

"No."

"You just sat there when he said those things. I thought you agreed with him," Brian admitted.

"Mitchell and I have been friends for a really long time, and he gets a little jealous when other people in my life divert attention away from him. It's just the way he is," Carter explained.

"Well, he didn't have to be such an asshole," Brian frowned.

"It wasn't one of Mitchell's finer moments, that's for sure," Carter smirked.

"So did you mean it?" Brian asked.

"Did I mean what?"

"You said that if I ever needed someone to talk to that I could call you..."

"Brian, I don't lie. That's the first thing you should know about me. The second thing you should know is that I always mean what I say. Being fake is not my style. Honesty is and has always been very important to me," Carter said.

"Yeah, I could tell," Brian mumbled. Carter reached into his pocket and handed Brian the piece of paper.

"Here is my cell number again. Feel free to use it, and if I don't hear from you, then that's fine too. Okay?" Carter asked.

Brian smiled at him. "All right," he replied, taking the number from Carter, placing it in the pockets of the sweats he was wearing. This night was not turning out how he imagined it would, but it was definitely interesting.