Kindred Love

Welcome To Our World

Brian anxiously shifted his weight from one foot to another as he scanned the crowd of people walking towards the baggage claim area. They had agreed to meet Justin there since they couldn't meet him at the Gate.

"Brian, honey, you're going to wear a hole where you're standing if you don't settle down," Debbie told her nephew. Brian didn't seem to hear her as he continued to keep his eye out for a familiar blond head. Brian finally spotted Justin walking toward the baggage claim area, and his face broke out into a huge smile.

Justin searched through the crowd until his eyes finally found Brian's, and his blue eyes immediately lit up as he saw him excitedly smiling and waving at him. He rushed towards his best friend and threw himself into his arms.

"Hey," Brian said, as they hugged each other tightly. They finally pulled away from each other, and Justin's smile was still plastered on his face. Brian had missed that smile.

"Hey," Justin replied. They looked each other up and down, taking in each other's changed appearance.

"Well, what do you know, you're capable of growing," Brian teased. Justin laughed at his friend. Justin had indeed grown at least an inch and a half since the last time he saw him. His shiny, blond, locks had grown out a little longer.

"Yeah, I heard that growing is a natural process of being alive," Justin said with a smirk. He looked at Brian. He looked so different. He too, had grown in height, and his hair was longer. He could tell that Brian's body was more toned. Brian was even hotter now than he was before. The main difference Justin noticed in Brian was that he no longer had a sadness in his eyes. He looked so relaxed and happy. Just the way he carried himself, you could tell how much he changed. He stood up straighter and he exuded confidence.

The sound of someone's throat being cleared interrupted Justin's thoughts, and he looked over at a short woman with a bright, red, curly hair and flamboyant clothing, who was beaming at him. He hadn't even noticed her standing there until right then. In fact, Justin hadn't noticed anyone or anything else in the airport once he saw Brian's face.

"You must be the Justin that Brian's been raving about," Debbie said holding her arms out to the blond and gave him a hug.

"Yes, ma'am. And you must be his Aunt Debbie," Justin smiled back.

"The one and only. Turn around, let me take a look at you," Debbie instructed. Justin gave Brian a confused look. Brian gave him an assuring smile and nodded his head, and Justin turned around in a circle.

"What a fucking cutie you are!" Debbie exclaimed. Justin was taken aback with Debbie's choice of words, but still blushed at the compliment. Brian hadn't been kidding when he had said Debbie was a little out there. Justin liked her right away. "Welcome to Pittsburgh, Sunshine," she told him, wrapping her arm around his shoulder. Brian smiled at the nickname Debbie had just come up with for his friend. It suited him perfectly.

"Well, let's get your bags and head on out of here so you can get settled," Debbie said. Justin pointed out his two luggage on the carrier and Brian grabbed them for him. They headed out of the airport and to the Novotney residence.

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Brian led Justin up the stairs of the house and into his bedroom, and dropped Justin's luggage on the floor.

"Shit, Justin, did you bring your whole bedroom with you? That thing weighed a ton," Brian said. Justin gave a sheepish grin, as he sat down his other suitcase.

"Mom. Well, you know her. She just kept saying, 'Honey, you might want to bring this, and that,' and before I knew it I had two suitcases packed full. She just kept adding stuff," Justin laughed. Brian laughed along with him, immediately picturing Jennifer stuffing everything she thought Justin might or might not need into his bags. She always was one to be overly prepared.

"So is this where I'm going to sleep?" Justin asked.

"Well, it's really up to you. Mikey has bunk beds, but if you want to sleep in here you can either share my bed, or we could drag out the air mattress. We have a lot of sleepovers. Emmett, Todd, Josh and Ted spend the night most weekends, so there's usually a place for everyone to sleep," Brian explained.

"Well, I guess we can just figure it out later," Justin said. Brian nodded.

"So what do you want to do?" Brian asked.

Justin thought for a minute. "Where is your cousin, Michael?"

"He's out with his - with our friend, Josh," Brian said. Justin nodded.

Brian had almost slipped and called Josh Michael's boyfriend. Brian sighed, as he realized he was going have to tell Justin soon. He decided that they should spend the day together, just the two of them and then later on that night, he would tell him his secret.

"You'll most likely meet him and some of our other friends tomorrow," Brian told him.

"Hey, how about we stop in to get some lunch and then we go to a movie or something?" Brian suggested.

Justin smiled. "Yeah, that sounds fun."

"Cool."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brian and Justin walked out of the movie theater laughing and now were headed back to Brian's house. It wasn't that far, so Brian had told Debbie that they would walk home.

"I thought I was going to pee in my pants, I was laughing so hard," Brian confessed, still laughing.

"Yeah, me too. Well, your laugh has always been infectious, so, the more you laughed, the more it made me laugh," Justin said. Brian smiled at him.

"It's nice to hear you laughing. You seem to be doing a lot more of that now that you're here in Pittsburgh," Justin softly.

"I like it here," Brian replied with a small smile. "I don't think I've ever felt more safe. The only time I ever truly felt safe back in Philly, was when I was over at your house." Brian sighed. "But you know, at the end of the day, I always had to go back home -- to Hell house. Unfortunately for me, it wasn't fiction, it was my reality," Brian said with a sad face.

Justin was a little surprised at Brian's openness. He usually avoided talking about what it was like for him at home. Maybe Brian had been able to cope with it and move on.

"What?" Brian asked, seeing the look that Justin was giving him.

"It's just that I'm surprised that you just said that," Justin confessed.

"Well, they have me in therapy now a couple of times a month, so I guess I'm used to talking about it," Brian confessed.

"I didn't know that," Justin said with a surprised look.

"There are a few things that you don't know about me," Brian said cryptically. Justin started to feel slightly uncomfortable about Brian's tone. He could tell that Brian wanted to tell him something.

"Why didn't you tell me you were in therapy?" Justin asked.

Brian shrugged. "I didn't really want to tell anyone. I didn't really see the point in saying anything," Brian told him.

"Oh," Justin said. He was a little disappointed that Brian hadn't told him. He hoped that Brian would trust him enough to tell him things such as that.

Brian saw the look on Justin's face. He stopped walking and faced Justin, and reached out and touched the other boy's arm. "Hey, Jus... it has nothing to do with my trust in you," he told him. Justin was surprised that Brian had known what he was thinking.

"It was just something that I had to deal with on my own, you know?"

"I understand," Justin said with a small smile.

The boys walked the rest of the way to Brian's house with light conversation, but mostly silence. They were both lost in their own thoughts.

They walked up the stairs and into Brian's bedroom. Justin noticed that Brian seemed a little nervous. He sat down on Brian's bed and looked at him carefully.

"Brian... you want to tell me something," Justin said. "Just tell me. Whatever it is, you can trust me," Justin said softly. Brian sighed as he pulled out his desk chair and faced it toward Justin and sat down.

Brian wasn't sure how to say it. He decided that maybe the best way was to just be blunt.

"Okay," Brian said, taking a breath. "I just wanted to let you know that... I'm gay," Brian told Justin, looking into his eyes. He held his breath and waited for a response nervously.

"What?" Justin said, his mouth dropping open. His eyes were wide with shock, and they immediately started filling up with tears. Brian hadn't expected that reaction. Why would Justin cry over this? Was he really that disappointed in him? Brian suddenly felt the need to console his friend, and went over to the bed and sat down next to the blond. Justin's tears fell freely down his cheeks, and he looked straight ahead, as if he was still allowing Brian's confession to sink in. Brian put his hand on his shoulder.

"Justin," he called out softly. He was so worried. He didn't know what was going on in his friend's mind at that moment.

At the feel of Brian's touch, Justin immediately turned to face Brian and looked into his eyes. He suddenly threw his arms around Brian and hugged him tightly. Brian was surprised by this gesture, but held Justin, as he heard him sobbing.

"Shhh, it's okay," Brian whispered, rubbing circles on Justin's back.

"Brian," Justin managed to choke out.

"I'm here," Brian said, suddenly getting a feeling that there was more to Justin's reaction than he initially thought.

"Brian," Justin repeated and pulled away from his embrace and looked at him. Brian realized that Justin was trying to get his attention. He wiped some of Justin's tears with his hand and waited for him to speak.

"I... I'm gay too," Justin told Brian. Suddenly he felt a huge weight lifted off his shoulders. He had said it out loud for the first time. He finally had told someone. He felt his body relax.

Brian stared at Justin. Now it was his turn to be in shock. He felt his own eyes start to tear up, and he took Justin in his arms again, and they hugged for a long moment, just holding each other, staying silent, except for the sniffling noises that came from both of them. They finally pulled away from each other, and smiled at each other.

"I have known for a long time, but haven't said anything to anyone. I thought people would hate me," Justin admitted.

"You thought I'd hate you?" Brian asked.

"Well, I wasn't sure. I read on the Internet that sometimes when gay people come out to their friends and family, that they stop talking to them. I was afraid of losing everyone I care about," Justin said, wiping his damp face with his arm.

"I'll tell you one thing, Sunshine. You'll fit in just perfect over here," Brian smiled. Justin looked at him in wonder.

"Mikey is gay too. He has a boyfriend named Josh. Also, we have some other friends, Emmett, Ted and Todd, who are gay," Brian said. He saw the shocked look on Justin's face.

"You didn't think you were the only one, did you?" Brian asked.

Justin shrugged. "I've never known any other gay kids. I'm just surprised that you know so many. I... I can't believe that you are gay too. I felt so alone," Justin admitted with a sad smile.

"So how does it feel?" Brian asked.

"What?" Justin asked.

"To finally come out?" Brian said. He saw Justin smile.

"It feels..." Justin tried to search for the right words.

"Free?" Brian finished.

Justin nodded at him. "Yeah. That's exactly it." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Brian, why didn't you ever tell me you are gay?" Justin asked.

"Well, I wasn't sure how you'd react. But I knew that when you came to visit that I would have to tell you. I mean, this house is always full of homos. All my friends are gay. I didn't want to have to hide it from you or to pretend I was straight. I like who I am," Brian explained.

Justin nodded. He understood perfectly why Brian had been discreet about his sexuality. He had the same insecurities that Justin had.

Suddenly, he looked at Brian. "Your Aunt Deb's not gay, is she?" Justin asked.

Brian just laughed. "No, but she might as well be. She knows everything there is to know about homosexuality," Brian said.

Justin nodded, and then felt himself yawn. He was feeling exhausted. It had been such a long day, and all that crying had really taken the last of his energy.

"You look tired. Why don't you lay down for a while?" Brian suggested. Justin didn't argue. He toed off his shoes, and moved to get under the covers and lay his head down on the pillow.

"Lay with me?" Justin asked.

Brian smiled at his friend and nodded. "Sure," he replied as he removed his own shoes and got under the covers with Justin. He saw the blond's eyelids getting heavy as he looked at him, and before too long, his eyes had closed all the way, and his even breathing told Brian that he was asleep. He watched Justin sleep for a minute, and then leaned in and kissed his forehead.

"Welcome to our world, Sunshine," Brian whispered. He felt so relieved that he didn't have to keep anything from Justin anymore, and what's more, he felt happy that they now shared something else in common. He closed his eyes and felt himself drift off to a sweet slumber.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brian felt someone lightly shaking his arm. He opened his eyes to see Debbie standing over him.

"Hey, kiddo, dinner is ready. Do you guys want to come downstairs and have some tuna and macaroni?" Debbie asked.

"We'll be down soon," Brian told her, and she nodded.

"Justin can meet Michael and Josh. They are downstairs," she whispered and went left the room.

Brian leaned in to Justin's ear. "Justin," he said softly. Justin opened his eyes sleepily, and seemed confused to see Brian in front of him for a moment, but then his faced relaxed as remembered that he was in Pittsburgh.

"I forgot where I was," Justin admitted.

Brian smiled. "You're not disappointed are you?" he asked.

"Are you kidding?" Justin said incredulously.

"Aunt Deb just said that dinner is ready. You hungry?" Brian asked. Just at that moment they both heard a loud grumbling sound coming from Justin's stomach and they both laughed. "I guess that answers my question," Brian said. They got up out of Brian's bed and stretched.

"By the way, Michael and his boyfriend are downstairs," Brian told him. Justin perked up. He was excited to meet them. They walked downstairs and into the kitchen where everyone was already sitting at the table engrossed in loud, conversation. They all looked over at Brian and Justin as they joined them at the table.

"Hey guys," Brian greeted. "This is Justin. Justin, this is Michael, Josh, Uncle Vic, and of course you already know Aunt Deb," Brian said, as he pointed each of them out as he introduced them. They all smiled at Justin.

"I hope you like Tuna and Macaroni," Vic told Justin. He smiled in response and nodded his head in appreciation.

"I love it," Justin replied.

"Well then, you'll fit right in this family. We're Italian; we eat lots of pasta," Debbie told him and cackled a laugh.

"It's a good thing, because he loves pasta, and he eats like a horse," Brian said, earning him an elbow to the ribs from his friend.

"That's even better. Ma loves to see a growing boy eat," Michael told Justin.

Dinner was good, and conversation continued to flow. Justin was enjoying himself, and liked everyone at the table. He was amazed at the way they all welcomed him and made him feel like family. He just knew that his visit in the Pitts was going to be great.