Kindred Love

Never Goodbye

Brian sat on a swing at the park, not really moving, just sitting there and thinking. The park didn't have too many people, for which he was grateful. He wished he could be alone, but this was the only place he could go. He just wanted to get out of that house for a little while and think about all that had happened over the last two days.

What had started out to be the best birthday of his life would now always be the anniversary to the worst day of his life. He believed his father could have killed him. If he hadn't been able to knee Jack as hard as he could in the balls, and escaped his deadly grip, he might have been dead. Jack had a strong choke hold on him, and he wasn't letting go for anything.

Brian tried to push the memory of the previous night out of his mind. It was something he didn't want to think about ever again, if he could help it. He was glad Jack was in jail. Hell, he had been overjoyed when Joan had told him that news. He certainly wasn't expecting to be sent away though.

He didn't want to leave. He didn't want to leave his school. He was making new friends, and had just made the soccer team. Craig had even bought him the uniform. He felt bad about that.

Then of course there were the Taylors. He loved everything about Jennifer. She was caring and generous. She always knew the right things to say. She was a great cook. She always made him feel like he was a part of their family.

Then there was Craig. He was the father he wished he had. He was smart, stern, and encouraging. He was a loving man who cared about his family. He always reassured Brian that he was a good kid and how much he enjoyed his company. He felt safe around him.

Justin. Justin was his best friend. He knew when to give Brian his space, and didn't pressure him to do or say anything he didn't want to. He was smart, funny and fun to hang out with, even though he was a couple of years younger. He accepted Brian as a part of his family, and cared about him.

And Molly. He immediately took to her from the first day. She was just a baby, and he felt the need to protect her, the same as he did for Justin. He enjoyed holding her and rocking her, and singing that stupid "This old Man" song to her. It made her giggle and look at him with the sweetest adoration. He was a sucker for that look.

He didn't want to leave this family. He had it in his mind that he would always be with the Taylors. At first he had been hurt when he was told he was going away, because he thought that the Taylors didn't want to take him in. He wanted that more than anything.

It wasn't that he didn't like his Aunt Debbie and his cousin Mikey. He hadn't really spent too much time with them over the years, but the times he did, he really liked them. Mikey was a little nerdy and all he talked about was comic books, but he was a good kid, and Brian liked him. He wondered why his mother and Debbie rarely spoke. He had heard a while ago from his mother that his Uncle Vic was now living with them too. He knew that his Uncle Vic was gay and that he had HIV. It didn't bother him at all. It would certainly be interesting living with them.

Brian had been lost in his thoughts for about 45 minutes when he heard a voice.

"Wanna see who can swing higher?" The blond challenged with a smile.

Brian looked to his left to see Justin sitting on the swing next to his, letting his legs dangle. Brian acknowledged him and smirked.

"Yeah, as if there could even be a contest. You know my legs are longer, therefore I can swing higher," Brian pointed out.

"We'll see," Justin replied.

The two boys started swinging together, pumping their legs in the air stronger with each swing to make them go higher. Brian was tall for his age. He looked older than he was, and definitely looked a little too old to be on the swings.

Justin was just the opposite. He looked younger than he actually was. They must have looked a lot more years apart, and here Brian was, having a swinging contest with Justin, not having a care in the world what anyone thought.

After 5 minutes of swinging, it was inevitable that Brian was the winner. Justin knew that would be the end result, but he still wanted to swing with him. They sat still in their swings for a moment. Justin kicked his feet around in the sand below him as he sat there wondering what he should say. Brian ended up speaking first.

"You know, you didn't have to check on me," Brian told him.

Justin looked back at him. "I just wanted to see if you were all right," he admitted.

"I'm fine." Brian said.

"I'm sorry if I freaked out earlier. I didn't mean to, I just really don't want you to go," Justin said quietly.

"It's okay. I don't want to go either. But obviously no one gives a shit about what we want," Brian huffed.

"I know mom and dad would take you in if they could."

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway, because they can't," Brian stated.

"Mom said that we'll make this week a fun week. She's going to take us to some museums and the zoo. We might even go to a Theme Park.," Justin said enthusiastically.

"Great," Brian said trying to sound interested, but was failing. Justin put his hand on Brian's shoulder.

"Brian, I thought about what my dad said. This really sucks. But we should make good with the time that you're here. Let's make some lasting memories," Justin told Brian.

The brunet looked at his blond friend and finally gave him a genuine smile. He stood up from his swing, and pulled Justin up with him and put his arm around the younger boy's shoulder.

"So, what's for dinner?" Brian asked as he led them back to Justin's house.

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

The week had been eventful as Jennifer had promised. Brian had gone back to his house and brought all of his things over to the Taylors. He didn't have too much stuff, so they would only have to ship 3 boxes to Pittsburgh. Brian didn't own anything big. He mostly had books, clothes and CDs, as well as some awards and trophies he had received from school sports and academia.

Jennifer and Craig had taken the boys to the movies, museums, the local zoo. The family had gone out to dinner several times, and Jennifer had made a lot of Brian's favorite foods during the week as well. They had all spent a lot of time together. It was the greatest week of Brian's life, but also the worst. The clock was ticking and he knew he would have to leave very soon. He was dreading the day he had to leave this family behind.

Rita had called on Friday and let them know that Debbie had checked out okay, and that Brian's flight would be the following Sunday afternoon. Before they all knew it, it was Sunday, and they were getting ready to take Brian to the airport.

Brian was in Justin's room packing the last of his things in his carry-on suitcase, when Craig and Jennifer knocked on the door.

"I'm almost ready," Brian called out.

Craig and Jennifer walked in the room.

"Hey, son. You got everything?" Craig asked Brian, giving him a sad smile. It was evident that Craig didn't want the boy to leave. He had come to love Brian as a son. He would miss him a lot.

"Yeah, just about," Brian replied zipping up his suitcase.

"We bought you something to take with you," Jennifer said.

Brian looked up at them in surprise. "You guys have already done so much for me. I really don't need anything else," Brian reassured.

"Well, actually this will benefit us too," Craig said, holding out a black back pack.

"I already have a back pack," Brian said, looking at the bag.

"Well, actually, this is not your ordinary back pack," Craig replied. Brian gave him a confused look.

"Open it and see," Craig told him. Brian sighed and took the bag from him. He noticed it was a little heavy. He set it down on the bed and unzipped it, and was immediately taken back by what he saw.

"You guys bought me a lap top computer?" Brian stated with wide eyes. Jennifer and Craig nodded and smiled at him. Brian stared at the black laptop which was secured in the bag by a Velcro strap.

"I can't accept this," Brian said.

"Nonsense. We're not taking it back. You can use it for school, and you won't have an excuse not to keep in touch. You and Justin can email back and forth. It has everything. It plays DVDs, it has a music player in it, and also has Instant Messenger installed in it so you can chat too," Jennifer informed. Brian was in shock and remained quiet, looking over his gift.

"We're paying for the first six months of Internet service. Your Aunt Debbie said that she'll take over the bill after that. She said it was about time they had some technology running in their house, anyway," Craig added.

"I have something to add to the back pack," Justin informed walking into the room to join them.

"Oh God. Not you too," Brian sighed.

Justin gave Brian a devilish smile, and handed him his gift. "It's nothing big. It's just a Discman and the latest Moby CD. I know how much you like him. You can listen to it on the boring plane ride," Justin told him.

Brian put the items in one of his new laptop backpack compartments and zipped it up. "Thanks," he said, giving Justin a hug. Justin returned the hug affectionately. Brian then turned to Craig and Jennifer and hugged each of them.

"Now, we expect to receive lots of emails from you, young man," Jennifer informed Brian.

He smiled at that. "I promise," he replied.

"Well, we should probably get going," Craig said. Brian nodded and pulled his new laptop bag on his back, adjusting its shoulder straps.

"Dad, can I come?" Justin asked.

"Of course. I wasn't sure whether you wanted to or not," Craig replied.

"I do," Justin replied simply.

The three of them then headed for the airport. It was very quiet as they drove towards their destination, each lost in their own thoughts and feeling a bit depressed. Even Justin, who could always fill the silence with something whether it be talking or singing or some kind of sound effects, remained quiet.

They walked Brian to the Gate, and said their goodbyes. It had been hard saying goodbye to Jennifer earlier. He kind of wished he could have just got all of the goodbyes over with then and took a cab to the airport.

Craig hugged Brian first. "Brian, you call us if you need anything. And I mean anything, okay?" Craig told him.

"I will," Brian promised. "Uh, Craig, listen. Thanks for everything you've done for me. There were times I really didn't know if I could really get through the week, and then I would come over to your house and it somehow just made it better, knowing that you all cared for me so much."

"I've said this before, and I'll say it again. You're a good kid. I've loved having you around, and if we could have it our way, you'd stay right here with us. We love you, Brian. We hope you know that," Craig said.

Brian nodded and felt his eyes sting and threaten to fill up with tears. That was something he wasn't used to hearing. His parents didn't say they loved him too often. Come to think of it, he didn't think he had ever heard Jack say it. Only his mother, but it seemed the only time she did say it was when she was sorry about something.

"Yeah, I do know," Brian confirmed. He then turned to Justin, who had tears in his eyes. He hugged his friend affectionately, not wanting to let go. It took a while for them to pull away from each other, each not wanting to be the one to let go first. Each wanting the hug to last as long as possible.

"Promise you'll email me?" Justin asked.

Brian smiled back at him. "Only if you promise you will too," Brian said.

"Maybe I can come visit you sometime," Justin said.

"I'd like that," Brian said.

They heard the someone on the intercom say that Brian's plane was now boarding passengers.

"That's me," Brian said.

Justin nodded. "Bye," he barely whispered.

Brian shook his head at him. "No, Justin. Not goodbye. Never goodbye. It's later. Always later," he said with an encouraging smile. That statement earned him a big smile in return. Somehow, that did make Justin feel a little better.

"All right. Later," Justin said. He turned to walk away towards the line where the other passengers were standing to board the plane. He turned around one last time.

"Give Molly a kiss for me," he told them. He then continued walking and didn't look back again. He could feel their sad gaze on him, but he continued to stare straight ahead, knowing that it would just make it harder if he turned back to look at them again.