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soulmatejunkeeTitle: 1 wedding, 4 rings and 1 almost funeral, Part 12/12 (You & Me-Series)
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
soulmatejunkee
Fandom: Queer as Folk US
Pairing: Brian/Justin
Timeline: Post 5.13; POV's
Word Count: 5.463
Disclaimer: I don’t own anything. It’s all CowLip and Showtime.
Beta:mander3_swish - thank you so much!
Okay, like I said, things are going to change with that story, moving forward - finally! With that last chapter of this story it all come to full circle - at least that's what I would call it.
The Series doesn't end with that chapter!
There will be some more stuff coming up, since there are still some things unanswered.
As always: Every comment is welcome. I Love to read what you think. Thanks!
1. Listen to me
2. Trust me
3. Babylon Part 1 | Part 2
4. Find a way Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
5. ...remember what's missing?
6. The Party
7. Thanksgiving 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
8. 1 wedding, 4 rings + 1 almost funeral 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11
Emmett's POV
Sometimes I feel lonely and unhappy. This isn’t my normal mood; I always try to see the brighter side of life, so to speak. And I’m also always happy for the people I love and I want them to be happy too. I want everybody to be happy. The world would be such a happy place if everybody would just believe in love. But unfortunately that is just a dream.
In reality I am depressed – because of the happiness around me. And maybe for the first time ever I could understand Brian and how he felt when he had to watch all the happy couples while his boyfriend was living in New York. I always thought he overreacted, but honestly, getting drunk and getting your dick sucked or your ass fucked in the backroom of Babylon wasn’t such a bad distraction anymore.
I love Ted, I always have. No matter if we were friends or lovers. He was always my Teddy and he always will be. And yes, I always wanted him to find the right guy, because it was what he was craving for – as long as I’ve known him, all he ever wanted was someone to love. So Blake might not have been my first choice, even though I was willing to admit that he had grown a lot, but he always had been Teddy’s first choice. And Ted has always loved Blake, from their first “Hello”. And now they were finally together and happy. They had their own home, they were comfortable with each other and they were always together. There was no Ted without Blake and no Blake without Ted.
I also love Michael, I always have. He could be very whiny and an annoying little brat, but when you know his mother, you also know where this was coming from. Nevertheless he is good guy, a good friend, and a happily married gay man. He is not only married to an Adonis, he also has a teenage son and a baby girl. He is a family guy... or should I say… a family gay? Ben and Michael are like Yin and Yang. They belong to each other. There is no Michael without Ben and no Ben without Michael.
Everybody loves Debbie, and so do I. She is our mother, she is loud, she is shrill and she is colorful. And she is sort of my roommate. So I live with her... and her boyfriend. People might think that older couples aren’t that energetic in their sex life – let me tell you, they’re wrong. Sleeping in the room beside those two is weird and I have spent some sleepless nights in that house since Carl has moved in. But I love them, they are happy, they are in love and they are our parents. There is no Debbie without Carl and no Carl without Debbie.
Brian, well, what’s there to say about Brian? Let’s just say, I love Justin and have always respected Brian. He can be an asshole – fuck, he is an asshole. He often overreacts and he isn’t very sensitive. He is hot, sexy and beautiful and he knows it. That is the Brian Kinney he shows to the world. It’s not exactly the real Brian, but I never, not in a million years, expected Brian Kinney to become a married man. Okay, they weren’t really married, but fuck, except for a minister who would say some stuff that didn’t count anyway, they were married. And when Justin is in town, there is no Brian without Justin and no Justin without Brian. But when Justin isn’t here, Brian always finds some nameless trick to fuck or to get sucked. People never understood that – I never understood it. Until now.
It was so depressing to watching all these happy couples all the time and knowing that there was no one waiting for you when you’d come home. It was so frustrating to see their happy faces, their looks of love and knowing that there was no one who looked at you like you were the most beautiful person he had ever seen.
I guess after all we weren’t that different.
Ted wasn’t a desperate loser when he was running around, searching the love of his life. Michael wasn’t a desperate loser when he was running after his best friend for years, hoping that one day he would reciprocate his feelings. Justin wasn’t a desperate loser when he believed that one day he would get everything he always wanted from Brian. And Brian wasn’t a desperate loser when he was hanging out at the bar, getting drunk and getting sucked in the backroom, just to forget the loneliness for a while.
And so I hoped that I wasn’t a desperate loser, because I was running around, waiting for someone to reciprocate my feelings, believing that one day I would get everything I always wanted, and getting drunk and fucked in the backroom just to forget the loneliness. I never expected to end up as the last single guy in this group.
It was Wednesday morning at the diner when Ted came in – without Blake – and sat down beside me at the counter.
“I have some news for you”, he said. “Some really, really good news.”
Normally when he was euphoric like that it had something to do with him and his newest ‘love of my life’-guy, but since he had really found the one, I knew it couldn’t be that. “What?”
“Do you remember how pissed off you were when Brian fired Drew Boyd?” He closed his eyes and shook his head. “I mean, when he had to fire him.”
Drew... I hadn’t seen him since the night I had told him that he had to sow his wild oats. Nine months ago. I heard about him and his team in the news from time to time, but I never saw him at Babylon or Woody’s or any other club. He somehow disappeared. He also never called. Not even on my birthday. I nodded and kissed my cup of coffee.
“Well, luck has turned. Leo Brown from Brown Athletics wants to create a gay underwear line, the rainbow line and he wa...”
“O, that’s a really horrible name for it,” I said and shook my head. “No one’s gonna buy it.”
Ted shrugged and nodded. “We know that. Brian’s working on the title. I’m absolutely sure he will come up with a better name. But that’s not the point. Some homosexual groups got really upset about Brown firing Drew and they made a plea to boycott Brown Athletic clothing. I’ll be honest, I had no idea about the boycott, but Brown obviously wasn’t pleased by being denounced as a homophobic asshole and now he wants Drew back for the new underwear line.”
Okay, that was great news, sure. Drew never deserved to be fired for being gay, no one deserved that. But like I said, I hadn’t seen him in nine months and I had no idea what kind of answer Teddy expected. “That’s good news.”
Ted put his hand on my arm. “There’s going to be a photo shoot at Kinnetik this afternoon.”
Really? “Really?”
“Yep.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
Ted slipped from the bar stool and shrugged. “I thought you might want to know that he’ll be there at three.”
And then he left and I sat there. What was I suppose to do? Why should I show up at Kinnetik, there was no reason for it? And Brian would not be pleased. And Drew...?
“Take the chance.”
I looked up and saw Debbie standing behind the counter, she had obviously heard everything. I shook my head. “What for? He never called, he never showed up.”
“Neither did you.”
“What does that mean?”
“Did you call him? Did you show up at one of his games? I don’t think so.”
“It wasn’t my turn. I told him to call me when he’s... well, when he’s ready.”
She leaned over and touched my cheek. “Emmett, honey, he’s still a baby. He doesn’t know what to do. Remember the other times he has shown up? There hasn’t been one single successful comeback that man has done.”
Okay, that was true. First he knocked me down, then he kinda stalked me, and then he just showed up in the middle of the night with twenty paparazzi in tow. I looked down. “Maybe he has a boyfriend.”
“Maybe he doesn’t.” She slapped me. For some reason she loved to do that, it was a sign that she cared about someone. “Don’t be a chicken. You have nothing to lose.”
“Even if it doesn’t look like it lately, I still have my pride”, I said.
“Swallow it.” She pinched my cheek, laughed and walked away.
And then I sat there and did nothing. It was just 10 AM, there was a lot of time until afternoon - if I decided to go there.
“Hi Em.”
I turned around and saw Justin sitting down beside me. I hadn’t seen him since he was in town, because the crap that had happened with his father. But I had heard about the night at Babylon.
“O, hi Baby!” I hugged him. “How are you doing after that... shit that had happened the other night? I heard about it and when they told me that it happened to the blond guy Brian Kinney used to hang out with...”
He frowned. “I’m the blond guy Brian Kinney used to hang out with?”
“To them. For us you’re the guy who made Brian Kinney an understandable human being.” At least for me. I bumped his knee. “So, how are you?”
He laughed and shook his head. “I’m fine.”
And then I saw it, the white golden ring on his hand. So much for not really being married. “O my god.” I grabbed his hand. “O my god!” I so loved weddings and rings and love and... “O my god, you are married!”
“Hush!”
Too late... they were all staring at us and it didn’t take very long until... “Sunshine!”
My bad...
Ted's POV
I admit I hadn’t thought about the consequences when I sort of invited Emmett to the photo shoot. All I was thinking was that it was about time that Emmett left his snail shell. It wasn’t funny to see him so depressed and frustrated. And I knew that even if he had dated some other guys, he somehow was still waiting for Drew Boyd. So what else than inviting him along was I supposed to do when Drew Boyd made a comeback. But... I didn’t see it coming.
“Here I am”, Emmett said, his hair freshly styled, a new outfit, and it also looked as if he had gotten his teeth bleached. “So, where is he?”
I had no idea if Emmett had a plan, but I knew that I had forgotten to tell Brian about my own plan. I knew he wouldn’t agree with me, simply because he always separated work from private life. He would never play the bawd, but at least he would’ve known what was going on and it wouldn’t have been so embarrassing.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” He eyed Emmett up. “And why do you look like a rubber ball?”
Emmett looked at me. “Well, Teddy...”
“I forgot to tell you that I invited him,” I said and nodded to Brian. “This morning.”
“What for?” Brian asked.
I shrugged. Would it be smart to talk about love? No. “I thought we could use a... decorator?” Not my best lie.
Brian frowned. I had no idea if he was playing with us, because he already knew why I told Emmett about Drew and the photo shoot, or if he really had no clue what was going on. I tended to think it was the first.
“This is an underwear line, what’s there to decorate?”
I nodded. “Right, right, so mh... what about a caterer? This is going to be a long session, people might get hungry.”
Lesson learned: Never try to play Brian Kinney. And... learn how to lie!
“It doesn’t look like he has any food with him.”
At least Emmett realized the problem and... well, let’s say, he tried to help me or himself. “I have bubble gums with a pronounced flavor of cinnamon.”
I nodded. “See.”
“I’m surrounded by idiots.” Brian rolled his eyes and shoved Emmett through the door. “Get in. And don’t distract him.”
I thought right, he was playing with us. Whatever punishment I would get - and I knew there would be some punishment - it was worth it.
“I promise”, Emmett smiled the brightest smile I had seen on his face in months. “Thank you. Oh and by the way, congratulations.”
“For what?”
Emmett pointed to the ring on Brian’s finger. “For your undefined, nontypical but on the other hand very typical kind of marriage. I met with Justin this morning.”
Brian made a face. “And that’s what he called it?”
“No, that’s what I call it”, Emmett answered. “He just called it some rings, but that’s unromantic. You and Justin are two people who are so deeply in love and totally committed to each other, and showing that by wearing wedding rings can’t be unromantic, so I explained it in a way you might.”
“Ah...”
“Wow”, I appreciated. I looked at Emmett. “You’ve got him speechless. Get in there.”
Unfortunately, Brian didn’t stay speechless very long and like I said, there was some punishment waiting for me.
“You owe me for that.”
I nodded. “I’m just working in the name of love.”
He smiled at me very gleeful. “Take off your clothes.”
Huh? “What?”
“It’s Drew Boyd, remember?”
Now I did. Lesson learned: Always, really always, wear some good looking underwear.
Emmett's POV
I stood in the corner. It was dark there, and no one saw me. As soon as the shooting started everyone took off their clothes. When I asked one of the guys what was going on he told me that Drew Boyd didn’t like to be the only naked guy in the room. I stayed in the corner – fully dressed - and just watched the shooting.
He was still as hot as always, he still had his charming smile and this great ass. I missed him. I didn’t think about him very often, at least not recently. After we broke up I thought about him all the time. I waited for him to call me, to tell me that he didn’t need to celebrate his coming out with fucking other guys and that he wanted to be with me, even though I knew this wouldn’t happen. Then I decided to wait two months before I started to wait for him to call me again... it was a game that never ended. And he never called.
He did what I told him to do. And so did I. I had met some other guys, some stayed for a few weeks or even for a few months, but it was hard to let go of a dream you once had and that had already almost come true.
And now I stood in a dark corner to watch him. I had my hair done and I bought a new top. But if someone would ask me why I had done this, I couldn’t answer it. It didn’t matter what I was wearing or how my hair was looking. It never mattered to him.
After an hour they had a break and the lights turned on again and there was no dark corner to hide in anymore. And since Brian wasn’t all wrong when he said I was looking like a rubber ball, there was no chance that Drew would overlook me.
“Emmett?”
I turned around and there he was, right in front of me, blue eyes and a cute smile. “Hey. Hey...”
He obviously didn’t expect to see me there, but he also didn’t seem to object. “What are you doing here?”
Whereas I was totally uncomfortable. “Mh... I’m the caterer.”
“For a photo shoot?”
“Yeah, yeah they... they... they wanted some food for the crew and since I’m friends with Brian and Ted they booked me and, yeah...”
“Where’s the food?”
“Hm?” Considering that I already had this conversation an hour before he caught me totally off-guard. “O! Yeah, the food... it was stolen.” O lord! “Want some bubble gum?”
“No. Thanks.” He knew I was lying, but did he also know the real reason why I was here? What was the real reason? What did I expect to happen? What did I expect him to do or to say? He still smiled at me. “It’s nice to see you.”
“Yeah. It’s nice to see you too.” I nodded. Then we looked at each other for a few seconds before I rolled my eyes. I wasn’t chicken, I never had been and I wouldn’t start now. “Okay, that’s nonsense. Ted told me that they want you back for another campaign and... that you would be here this afternoon and... I just wanted to see you.”
He still smiled. “Really?”
I shrugged. “Guess so.”
“Wow.” What an awkward situation. “Well, I have to... I have to go back.”
“Sure.”
And that was it. The lights went off again and they started to work again. I waited a few minutes and then I left.
Brian's POV
When I drove back to the house I thought about the week and that it would be over in a few days, that Justin would leave again. I wondered if his perfect plans would work out. If they did, he could be back the next weekend, if not... he wouldn’t. I enjoyed coming home knowing that he would be there; I didn’t even mind the long drive every day.
I almost slipped on my way to the door, the snow was icy. “Fuck.”
I opened the door; it was all dark, except for the living room. “Justin?”
I went to the bedroom to change my clothes, and when I looked out of the window I saw the light on in the studio. Since I didn’t expect him to sit on the floor again, waiting for his muse to come back, I was hoping that he finally had found an inspiration to paint again. I got myself a beer and went out to the studio. It was fucking freezing outside and slippery.
I knocked and walked in. He was standing in front of the white wall, drawing something. I didn’t recognise what it was supposed to be.
“We have to do something against the ice”, I said.
“Yeah, we have to buy some gritting salt, now that we’re living here we need to take care of it.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You mean we have to shovel snow and stuff?”
“Yes.” He laughed, turned around and gave me a smile. “Hey.”
I walked over to kiss him and now I could recognize some faces on the wall, but so far there were only contours. “What are you doing?”
“I’m beautifying my studio.” He turned his pen down. “What do you think? It’s not finished.”
“I hope so, I don’t recognize anything.”
He bumped me. “This is the drawing of you and Gus. This is Molly. And this is the first cover from Rage. And...”
“Am I anywhere?” I asked.
“I save the best for last.” Another smile for me. “How was your day?”
“Weird.” There was no other word for it. Drew Boyd, as hot as he was, was a really weird guy with some stupid complexes and a very strange ex-boyfriend. “But we got some stuff done. The new campaign can start in time.”
“I had no doubt about that”, he said.
I shrugged and kissed him again. I kept my eyes closed when I leaned my forehead against his. I would miss this. “Did you call Mitchell?”
“Yes”, he answered and took a big gulp from my beer. “I called him and told him that I would love to work with him. Monday’s my first day.”
I nodded. “Congratulations.”
“I also bought a webcam and...” he closed his eyes briefly and sighed. “And thank god my sister knew how to install it.”
I laughed. “Remind me to thank her for that.”
He looked up to me again and touched my cheek. The silence... I just hated it.
“This is going to work”, he whispered. “It has to.”
I shrugged. “Well, then it will.” It had to.
Justin's POV
The week went by way too fast.
Just as I expected, Gus loved the house and he loved to run around there. It was the best workout I’d had in months running after him to take care that he wouldn’t hurt himself. Upstairs, downstairs, upstairs, downstairs... fuck, that kid had an incredible staying power. The good thing was that with running around and splashing in the whirlpool he was really tired when we brought him to bed. When Brian started to read to him he fell asleep during the first side of the book. The bad thing was... I was totally burned out, too.
After Gus fell asleep we went to the living room and I flopped down on the sofa and Brian sat down beside me.
“We need a Wii,” I said.
“There is one,” he answered.
“What?” I looked at him. “Where?”
He pointed to the TV. I stood up and opened the cupboard and there it was. A DVD player and recorder, a Playstation and a Wii. I fell on the floor and looked at him. “You finally bought me a Wii, but didn’t tell me?”
“I figured you would find out sooner or later.”
“Asshole. I’m totally exhausted because your son was running me all over the house the entire day, which will leave me really sore tomorrow – and not in a good way – when we could’ve played with the Wii instead?”
He laughed. It was all very well for him to laugh! He barely ran around with us, he always waited downstairs for Gus and then caught him, while I was running up and down all the time.
“You’re going to be a good father one day”, he said.
I got up on my knees and crawled back to him. I leaned against the sofa and kissed his arm. “That won’t save you Mister.”
He got up and helped me to get back on my feet. “Come on, we have a Jacuzzi to fix that.”
I had a Jacuzzi with warm water and two strong arms and legs to hold me. Unfortunately, I was really tired, and so I almost fell asleep in the tub. As soon as my head touched the pillow I was gone.
Then New Years Eve was upon us and since there was no babysitter to find Mel and Linds decided to take the kids to the party at Ted’s. They fell asleep one hour after we arrived and they brought them to the guestroom.
It was a low-key party. There was music, but since we were only twenty people there wasn’t much of a party going on. There were things to eat, some party games I knew Brian hated to play, but did it anyway because he knew I would be pissed if he didn’t, and there was a horrible punch that tasted like feet.
“I’ve never felt so old in my entire life,” Brian sighed when we stood at the corner.
“It’s a typical party with friends,” I said and looked around. I saw Emmett sitting on the sofa beside Mel and Linds. He didn’t look happy even though he tried to act as funny and good-humored as always.
“Can’t we just leave?” Brian asked me while kissing my neck.
“Not before midnight, that would be very graceless, especially since there’s going to be a surprise, remember?”
“Wonder what that will be”, he mumbled while his hand was sliding down my side until he reached my ass and pulled me closer to him.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I asked him. Unfortunately my voice totally broke and it didn’t have any kind of effect on him. I tried to push him away. Well, I sort of tried. Okay, I didn’t. “There’s no backroom in this house.”
“There are enough other rooms,” he moaned while pressing himself against me. “You owe me a fuck.”
“I do?”
“You fell asleep last night.”
“Right.”
I couldn’t remember how, but somehow we ended up fucking in the storage room. It was a quick and hard fuck and after we came he held me and whispered into my ear: “Happy New Year.”
It was way easier to disappear without being seen than to come back. But after five years I didn’t care about it anymore. They knew us.
It was 11 PM when another guest arrived and Ted announced their surprise. “Well, this won’t be a normal New Years Eve, at least not for Blake and me. It will also be our wedding day.”
Emmett's POV
Remember what I told you about being alone and how much it sucked when you’re surrounded by couples – by happy couples? Well, it sucks even more when you’re alone at a wedding.
To be honest, I somehow knew it would end up in a wedding. I mean what else could be the big surprise at a party in a private house with all the people they loved? It was 11 PM when the minister arrived, and Teddy told us that he and Blake had decided to get married.
And because I knew what would happen I had bought a small bouquet and some rice. I’m the best friend, I’m supposed to make it the best day in his life – and I didn’t have to clean up the place.
Of course when they announced their surprise the public mood reached a new level. Especially the girls, who were totally euphoric and happy. Ben, Michael, Carl, and Justin congratulated them like people used to do and Brian just said, “Another monumentally step back for the emancipation of free gays,” before he hugged Ted.
And I... well I had my typical “O my god” queeny moment, hugged them both and then told them that I knew it would happen, gave them the bouquet and the rice to all the others.
The ceremony was wonderful, adorable, and touching. Debbie and I ended up as best men and we both cried most of time, especially during their vows.
“From the moment I met you I knew you were the one”, Ted said. “And even though no one believed that we could make it, I always knew it was only time. I love you.”
Fuck romantic! Fuck love! Fuck marriages! Thank god for tissues.
Fifteen minutes later everything was over and they were as married as it was allowed for a gay couple. They kissed, they hugged, they smiled... they were happy. And so was I. Of course I was. He was my best friend, he finally found the love of his life, and he finally got married. I couldn’t think about any other guy on this planet who deserved it more than Teddy.
Somehow I didn’t consider that throwing the bouquet required some unmarried guests. And it seemed that I was the only one, which of course increased my chance of catching it.
“Justin, come here”, I said and waved to him. They weren’t married, right? They were just wearing the rings; that’s what they said. And I wasn’t desperate or drunk enough to ask Brian Kinney to fight with me over a bouquet of flowers. “You two aren’t officially married, so come here.”
“He’s right”, Justin said, looked at Brian and kissed him. “You owe me a wedding.”
“He already got the wedding night though, didn’t he?” Debbie said.
“There was a time when that was the only reason to get married,” Carl sighed and looked at his girlfriend. “Good old times, huh?”
Justin didn’t really try to catch the bouquet and so it ended up in my hand and I got all the kisses and best wishes. I said a quick prayer that these fucking flowers really meant something. The next wedding had to be mine. I wasn’t willing to plan any other friends’ marriages anymore as long as I wasn’t wearing a golden ring on my finger.
A few minutes later I was standing in the kitchen with Teddy.
“I can’t believe I’m married,” he said.
I gave him one of my biggest smiles and hugged him. “I can.”
“Thanks Em, for everything.” He kissed me. “You know I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you.”
“Nonsense.”
“No, it’s true. And... I know that you really hate being single and so... I thought it’s about time to change that.”
We agreed on that, but what was I supposed to do? I was the only single person on that party. “What do you mean?”
He just shrugged.
“Congratulations.”
“Thank you!” I said automatically when I heard the voice and turned around. “Thank...you...” Just to stand right in front of... “Drew, you... here?” I dropped the bouquet down.
He nodded. “Ted invited me.”
“Really?” I looked at Ted who shrugged again and put his arm around Blake for another kiss. Fuck! He could’ve warned me. I cleared my throat. “And what... what are you doing here?”
“I just wanted to see you.”
Really? O my god. Inwardly I was jumping up and down. Fuck the virgin stuff – with him being here I wasn’t a single anymore and god knew I missed him. And if he really had to... fuck around... well, we could figure that out later. I tried to play it cool.
“That was my line”, I said. “Don’t you have your own?”
He smiled at me, took out his cell phone and a few seconds later I felt the vibration in my trouser pocket. What kind of weird game was that supposed to be? I answered the phone.
“Hey, it’s me, Drew. Remember that I should call you when I got my 21st birthday?”
He was good. He looked me straight in the eyes.
“Sure”, I answered.
“I think I’m already close to the 30th. So... if you don’t mind I would like to take you up on your offer.”
He was really good.
“I don’t mind.”
“Good. I thought, maybe you need someone to kiss at midnight.”
He was amazing and honestly, he already got me when he stole my line. “O, yeah... yeah, that would be nice. Nothing’s worse than being alone at midnight on New Year’s Eve, surrounded by couples.”
He nodded and hung up. “Do you think we can practice a little before? So we don’t embarrass ourselves later.”
O my god.
Justin's POV
I leaned against Brian while watching Emmett and Drew. This was sort of a perfect moment. And I remembered a lot of moments that hadn’t been that perfect because there was always at least one of us who wasn’t perfectly happy. But in those few seconds ... everything was just perfect.
“He’s hot,” I said.
“You should see him in underwear,” Brian answered.
“Guess I will soon. Everybody will. So, did you fuck him?”
He laughed. “No. But I should have, since now he’s out of reach again.”
I turned around and kissed his neck. “I have a plan, wanna hear it?”
He looked down at me and frowned. “Another plan?”
“Yeah.”
“Tell me?”
I put my arms around his waist and leaned my chin against his chest. “I know we had planed to stay at the loft tonight, but... I haven’t drunk any kind of alcohol so far and I would prefer to spend this night at the house. We... could start in the living room and... see how many rooms we reached on our way to the bed. We have to celebrate the New Year.”
It was my last night in town, and even though things would change from now on – because I would take care of that – I wanted to live that night. I didn’t want to spend it at the loft; I wanted it to be something special. Especially since this year wasn’t just another year. So many things had happened, so many things had changed.
“That’s your plan?”
I nodded. “Do you like it?”
“I fucking love it.” He leaned down to kiss me when Debbie started to count down to the year 2006.
“Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one – Happy New Year!”
You wouldn’t think that 20 people could make such a noise.
We didn’t pay any attention to them, we kept kissing each other and no one even tried to come between us.
At least for the first 30 seconds of the New Year.
- - - - - - - -
Like I said, the Series doesn't end here
Author:
soulmatejunkee Fandom: Queer as Folk US
Pairing: Brian/Justin
Timeline: Post 5.13; POV's
Word Count: 5.463
Disclaimer: I don’t own anything. It’s all CowLip and Showtime.
Beta:
mander3_swish - thank you so much!Okay, like I said, things are going to change with that story, moving forward - finally! With that last chapter of this story it all come to full circle - at least that's what I would call it.
The Series doesn't end with that chapter!
There will be some more stuff coming up, since there are still some things unanswered.
As always: Every comment is welcome. I Love to read what you think. Thanks!
1. Listen to me
2. Trust me
3. Babylon Part 1 | Part 2
4. Find a way Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
5. ...remember what's missing?
6. The Party
7. Thanksgiving 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
8. 1 wedding, 4 rings + 1 almost funeral 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11
Emmett's POV
Sometimes I feel lonely and unhappy. This isn’t my normal mood; I always try to see the brighter side of life, so to speak. And I’m also always happy for the people I love and I want them to be happy too. I want everybody to be happy. The world would be such a happy place if everybody would just believe in love. But unfortunately that is just a dream.
In reality I am depressed – because of the happiness around me. And maybe for the first time ever I could understand Brian and how he felt when he had to watch all the happy couples while his boyfriend was living in New York. I always thought he overreacted, but honestly, getting drunk and getting your dick sucked or your ass fucked in the backroom of Babylon wasn’t such a bad distraction anymore.
I love Ted, I always have. No matter if we were friends or lovers. He was always my Teddy and he always will be. And yes, I always wanted him to find the right guy, because it was what he was craving for – as long as I’ve known him, all he ever wanted was someone to love. So Blake might not have been my first choice, even though I was willing to admit that he had grown a lot, but he always had been Teddy’s first choice. And Ted has always loved Blake, from their first “Hello”. And now they were finally together and happy. They had their own home, they were comfortable with each other and they were always together. There was no Ted without Blake and no Blake without Ted.
I also love Michael, I always have. He could be very whiny and an annoying little brat, but when you know his mother, you also know where this was coming from. Nevertheless he is good guy, a good friend, and a happily married gay man. He is not only married to an Adonis, he also has a teenage son and a baby girl. He is a family guy... or should I say… a family gay? Ben and Michael are like Yin and Yang. They belong to each other. There is no Michael without Ben and no Ben without Michael.
Everybody loves Debbie, and so do I. She is our mother, she is loud, she is shrill and she is colorful. And she is sort of my roommate. So I live with her... and her boyfriend. People might think that older couples aren’t that energetic in their sex life – let me tell you, they’re wrong. Sleeping in the room beside those two is weird and I have spent some sleepless nights in that house since Carl has moved in. But I love them, they are happy, they are in love and they are our parents. There is no Debbie without Carl and no Carl without Debbie.
Brian, well, what’s there to say about Brian? Let’s just say, I love Justin and have always respected Brian. He can be an asshole – fuck, he is an asshole. He often overreacts and he isn’t very sensitive. He is hot, sexy and beautiful and he knows it. That is the Brian Kinney he shows to the world. It’s not exactly the real Brian, but I never, not in a million years, expected Brian Kinney to become a married man. Okay, they weren’t really married, but fuck, except for a minister who would say some stuff that didn’t count anyway, they were married. And when Justin is in town, there is no Brian without Justin and no Justin without Brian. But when Justin isn’t here, Brian always finds some nameless trick to fuck or to get sucked. People never understood that – I never understood it. Until now.
It was so depressing to watching all these happy couples all the time and knowing that there was no one waiting for you when you’d come home. It was so frustrating to see their happy faces, their looks of love and knowing that there was no one who looked at you like you were the most beautiful person he had ever seen.
I guess after all we weren’t that different.
Ted wasn’t a desperate loser when he was running around, searching the love of his life. Michael wasn’t a desperate loser when he was running after his best friend for years, hoping that one day he would reciprocate his feelings. Justin wasn’t a desperate loser when he believed that one day he would get everything he always wanted from Brian. And Brian wasn’t a desperate loser when he was hanging out at the bar, getting drunk and getting sucked in the backroom, just to forget the loneliness for a while.
And so I hoped that I wasn’t a desperate loser, because I was running around, waiting for someone to reciprocate my feelings, believing that one day I would get everything I always wanted, and getting drunk and fucked in the backroom just to forget the loneliness. I never expected to end up as the last single guy in this group.
It was Wednesday morning at the diner when Ted came in – without Blake – and sat down beside me at the counter.
“I have some news for you”, he said. “Some really, really good news.”
Normally when he was euphoric like that it had something to do with him and his newest ‘love of my life’-guy, but since he had really found the one, I knew it couldn’t be that. “What?”
“Do you remember how pissed off you were when Brian fired Drew Boyd?” He closed his eyes and shook his head. “I mean, when he had to fire him.”
Drew... I hadn’t seen him since the night I had told him that he had to sow his wild oats. Nine months ago. I heard about him and his team in the news from time to time, but I never saw him at Babylon or Woody’s or any other club. He somehow disappeared. He also never called. Not even on my birthday. I nodded and kissed my cup of coffee.
“Well, luck has turned. Leo Brown from Brown Athletics wants to create a gay underwear line, the rainbow line and he wa...”
“O, that’s a really horrible name for it,” I said and shook my head. “No one’s gonna buy it.”
Ted shrugged and nodded. “We know that. Brian’s working on the title. I’m absolutely sure he will come up with a better name. But that’s not the point. Some homosexual groups got really upset about Brown firing Drew and they made a plea to boycott Brown Athletic clothing. I’ll be honest, I had no idea about the boycott, but Brown obviously wasn’t pleased by being denounced as a homophobic asshole and now he wants Drew back for the new underwear line.”
Okay, that was great news, sure. Drew never deserved to be fired for being gay, no one deserved that. But like I said, I hadn’t seen him in nine months and I had no idea what kind of answer Teddy expected. “That’s good news.”
Ted put his hand on my arm. “There’s going to be a photo shoot at Kinnetik this afternoon.”
Really? “Really?”
“Yep.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
Ted slipped from the bar stool and shrugged. “I thought you might want to know that he’ll be there at three.”
And then he left and I sat there. What was I suppose to do? Why should I show up at Kinnetik, there was no reason for it? And Brian would not be pleased. And Drew...?
“Take the chance.”
I looked up and saw Debbie standing behind the counter, she had obviously heard everything. I shook my head. “What for? He never called, he never showed up.”
“Neither did you.”
“What does that mean?”
“Did you call him? Did you show up at one of his games? I don’t think so.”
“It wasn’t my turn. I told him to call me when he’s... well, when he’s ready.”
She leaned over and touched my cheek. “Emmett, honey, he’s still a baby. He doesn’t know what to do. Remember the other times he has shown up? There hasn’t been one single successful comeback that man has done.”
Okay, that was true. First he knocked me down, then he kinda stalked me, and then he just showed up in the middle of the night with twenty paparazzi in tow. I looked down. “Maybe he has a boyfriend.”
“Maybe he doesn’t.” She slapped me. For some reason she loved to do that, it was a sign that she cared about someone. “Don’t be a chicken. You have nothing to lose.”
“Even if it doesn’t look like it lately, I still have my pride”, I said.
“Swallow it.” She pinched my cheek, laughed and walked away.
And then I sat there and did nothing. It was just 10 AM, there was a lot of time until afternoon - if I decided to go there.
“Hi Em.”
I turned around and saw Justin sitting down beside me. I hadn’t seen him since he was in town, because the crap that had happened with his father. But I had heard about the night at Babylon.
“O, hi Baby!” I hugged him. “How are you doing after that... shit that had happened the other night? I heard about it and when they told me that it happened to the blond guy Brian Kinney used to hang out with...”
He frowned. “I’m the blond guy Brian Kinney used to hang out with?”
“To them. For us you’re the guy who made Brian Kinney an understandable human being.” At least for me. I bumped his knee. “So, how are you?”
He laughed and shook his head. “I’m fine.”
And then I saw it, the white golden ring on his hand. So much for not really being married. “O my god.” I grabbed his hand. “O my god!” I so loved weddings and rings and love and... “O my god, you are married!”
“Hush!”
Too late... they were all staring at us and it didn’t take very long until... “Sunshine!”
My bad...
Ted's POV
I admit I hadn’t thought about the consequences when I sort of invited Emmett to the photo shoot. All I was thinking was that it was about time that Emmett left his snail shell. It wasn’t funny to see him so depressed and frustrated. And I knew that even if he had dated some other guys, he somehow was still waiting for Drew Boyd. So what else than inviting him along was I supposed to do when Drew Boyd made a comeback. But... I didn’t see it coming.
“Here I am”, Emmett said, his hair freshly styled, a new outfit, and it also looked as if he had gotten his teeth bleached. “So, where is he?”
I had no idea if Emmett had a plan, but I knew that I had forgotten to tell Brian about my own plan. I knew he wouldn’t agree with me, simply because he always separated work from private life. He would never play the bawd, but at least he would’ve known what was going on and it wouldn’t have been so embarrassing.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” He eyed Emmett up. “And why do you look like a rubber ball?”
Emmett looked at me. “Well, Teddy...”
“I forgot to tell you that I invited him,” I said and nodded to Brian. “This morning.”
“What for?” Brian asked.
I shrugged. Would it be smart to talk about love? No. “I thought we could use a... decorator?” Not my best lie.
Brian frowned. I had no idea if he was playing with us, because he already knew why I told Emmett about Drew and the photo shoot, or if he really had no clue what was going on. I tended to think it was the first.
“This is an underwear line, what’s there to decorate?”
I nodded. “Right, right, so mh... what about a caterer? This is going to be a long session, people might get hungry.”
Lesson learned: Never try to play Brian Kinney. And... learn how to lie!
“It doesn’t look like he has any food with him.”
At least Emmett realized the problem and... well, let’s say, he tried to help me or himself. “I have bubble gums with a pronounced flavor of cinnamon.”
I nodded. “See.”
“I’m surrounded by idiots.” Brian rolled his eyes and shoved Emmett through the door. “Get in. And don’t distract him.”
I thought right, he was playing with us. Whatever punishment I would get - and I knew there would be some punishment - it was worth it.
“I promise”, Emmett smiled the brightest smile I had seen on his face in months. “Thank you. Oh and by the way, congratulations.”
“For what?”
Emmett pointed to the ring on Brian’s finger. “For your undefined, nontypical but on the other hand very typical kind of marriage. I met with Justin this morning.”
Brian made a face. “And that’s what he called it?”
“No, that’s what I call it”, Emmett answered. “He just called it some rings, but that’s unromantic. You and Justin are two people who are so deeply in love and totally committed to each other, and showing that by wearing wedding rings can’t be unromantic, so I explained it in a way you might.”
“Ah...”
“Wow”, I appreciated. I looked at Emmett. “You’ve got him speechless. Get in there.”
Unfortunately, Brian didn’t stay speechless very long and like I said, there was some punishment waiting for me.
“You owe me for that.”
I nodded. “I’m just working in the name of love.”
He smiled at me very gleeful. “Take off your clothes.”
Huh? “What?”
“It’s Drew Boyd, remember?”
Now I did. Lesson learned: Always, really always, wear some good looking underwear.
Emmett's POV
I stood in the corner. It was dark there, and no one saw me. As soon as the shooting started everyone took off their clothes. When I asked one of the guys what was going on he told me that Drew Boyd didn’t like to be the only naked guy in the room. I stayed in the corner – fully dressed - and just watched the shooting.
He was still as hot as always, he still had his charming smile and this great ass. I missed him. I didn’t think about him very often, at least not recently. After we broke up I thought about him all the time. I waited for him to call me, to tell me that he didn’t need to celebrate his coming out with fucking other guys and that he wanted to be with me, even though I knew this wouldn’t happen. Then I decided to wait two months before I started to wait for him to call me again... it was a game that never ended. And he never called.
He did what I told him to do. And so did I. I had met some other guys, some stayed for a few weeks or even for a few months, but it was hard to let go of a dream you once had and that had already almost come true.
And now I stood in a dark corner to watch him. I had my hair done and I bought a new top. But if someone would ask me why I had done this, I couldn’t answer it. It didn’t matter what I was wearing or how my hair was looking. It never mattered to him.
After an hour they had a break and the lights turned on again and there was no dark corner to hide in anymore. And since Brian wasn’t all wrong when he said I was looking like a rubber ball, there was no chance that Drew would overlook me.
“Emmett?”
I turned around and there he was, right in front of me, blue eyes and a cute smile. “Hey. Hey...”
He obviously didn’t expect to see me there, but he also didn’t seem to object. “What are you doing here?”
Whereas I was totally uncomfortable. “Mh... I’m the caterer.”
“For a photo shoot?”
“Yeah, yeah they... they... they wanted some food for the crew and since I’m friends with Brian and Ted they booked me and, yeah...”
“Where’s the food?”
“Hm?” Considering that I already had this conversation an hour before he caught me totally off-guard. “O! Yeah, the food... it was stolen.” O lord! “Want some bubble gum?”
“No. Thanks.” He knew I was lying, but did he also know the real reason why I was here? What was the real reason? What did I expect to happen? What did I expect him to do or to say? He still smiled at me. “It’s nice to see you.”
“Yeah. It’s nice to see you too.” I nodded. Then we looked at each other for a few seconds before I rolled my eyes. I wasn’t chicken, I never had been and I wouldn’t start now. “Okay, that’s nonsense. Ted told me that they want you back for another campaign and... that you would be here this afternoon and... I just wanted to see you.”
He still smiled. “Really?”
I shrugged. “Guess so.”
“Wow.” What an awkward situation. “Well, I have to... I have to go back.”
“Sure.”
And that was it. The lights went off again and they started to work again. I waited a few minutes and then I left.
Brian's POV
When I drove back to the house I thought about the week and that it would be over in a few days, that Justin would leave again. I wondered if his perfect plans would work out. If they did, he could be back the next weekend, if not... he wouldn’t. I enjoyed coming home knowing that he would be there; I didn’t even mind the long drive every day.
I almost slipped on my way to the door, the snow was icy. “Fuck.”
I opened the door; it was all dark, except for the living room. “Justin?”
I went to the bedroom to change my clothes, and when I looked out of the window I saw the light on in the studio. Since I didn’t expect him to sit on the floor again, waiting for his muse to come back, I was hoping that he finally had found an inspiration to paint again. I got myself a beer and went out to the studio. It was fucking freezing outside and slippery.
I knocked and walked in. He was standing in front of the white wall, drawing something. I didn’t recognise what it was supposed to be.
“We have to do something against the ice”, I said.
“Yeah, we have to buy some gritting salt, now that we’re living here we need to take care of it.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You mean we have to shovel snow and stuff?”
“Yes.” He laughed, turned around and gave me a smile. “Hey.”
I walked over to kiss him and now I could recognize some faces on the wall, but so far there were only contours. “What are you doing?”
“I’m beautifying my studio.” He turned his pen down. “What do you think? It’s not finished.”
“I hope so, I don’t recognize anything.”
He bumped me. “This is the drawing of you and Gus. This is Molly. And this is the first cover from Rage. And...”
“Am I anywhere?” I asked.
“I save the best for last.” Another smile for me. “How was your day?”
“Weird.” There was no other word for it. Drew Boyd, as hot as he was, was a really weird guy with some stupid complexes and a very strange ex-boyfriend. “But we got some stuff done. The new campaign can start in time.”
“I had no doubt about that”, he said.
I shrugged and kissed him again. I kept my eyes closed when I leaned my forehead against his. I would miss this. “Did you call Mitchell?”
“Yes”, he answered and took a big gulp from my beer. “I called him and told him that I would love to work with him. Monday’s my first day.”
I nodded. “Congratulations.”
“I also bought a webcam and...” he closed his eyes briefly and sighed. “And thank god my sister knew how to install it.”
I laughed. “Remind me to thank her for that.”
He looked up to me again and touched my cheek. The silence... I just hated it.
“This is going to work”, he whispered. “It has to.”
I shrugged. “Well, then it will.” It had to.
Justin's POV
The week went by way too fast.
Just as I expected, Gus loved the house and he loved to run around there. It was the best workout I’d had in months running after him to take care that he wouldn’t hurt himself. Upstairs, downstairs, upstairs, downstairs... fuck, that kid had an incredible staying power. The good thing was that with running around and splashing in the whirlpool he was really tired when we brought him to bed. When Brian started to read to him he fell asleep during the first side of the book. The bad thing was... I was totally burned out, too.
After Gus fell asleep we went to the living room and I flopped down on the sofa and Brian sat down beside me.
“We need a Wii,” I said.
“There is one,” he answered.
“What?” I looked at him. “Where?”
He pointed to the TV. I stood up and opened the cupboard and there it was. A DVD player and recorder, a Playstation and a Wii. I fell on the floor and looked at him. “You finally bought me a Wii, but didn’t tell me?”
“I figured you would find out sooner or later.”
“Asshole. I’m totally exhausted because your son was running me all over the house the entire day, which will leave me really sore tomorrow – and not in a good way – when we could’ve played with the Wii instead?”
He laughed. It was all very well for him to laugh! He barely ran around with us, he always waited downstairs for Gus and then caught him, while I was running up and down all the time.
“You’re going to be a good father one day”, he said.
I got up on my knees and crawled back to him. I leaned against the sofa and kissed his arm. “That won’t save you Mister.”
He got up and helped me to get back on my feet. “Come on, we have a Jacuzzi to fix that.”
I had a Jacuzzi with warm water and two strong arms and legs to hold me. Unfortunately, I was really tired, and so I almost fell asleep in the tub. As soon as my head touched the pillow I was gone.
Then New Years Eve was upon us and since there was no babysitter to find Mel and Linds decided to take the kids to the party at Ted’s. They fell asleep one hour after we arrived and they brought them to the guestroom.
It was a low-key party. There was music, but since we were only twenty people there wasn’t much of a party going on. There were things to eat, some party games I knew Brian hated to play, but did it anyway because he knew I would be pissed if he didn’t, and there was a horrible punch that tasted like feet.
“I’ve never felt so old in my entire life,” Brian sighed when we stood at the corner.
“It’s a typical party with friends,” I said and looked around. I saw Emmett sitting on the sofa beside Mel and Linds. He didn’t look happy even though he tried to act as funny and good-humored as always.
“Can’t we just leave?” Brian asked me while kissing my neck.
“Not before midnight, that would be very graceless, especially since there’s going to be a surprise, remember?”
“Wonder what that will be”, he mumbled while his hand was sliding down my side until he reached my ass and pulled me closer to him.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I asked him. Unfortunately my voice totally broke and it didn’t have any kind of effect on him. I tried to push him away. Well, I sort of tried. Okay, I didn’t. “There’s no backroom in this house.”
“There are enough other rooms,” he moaned while pressing himself against me. “You owe me a fuck.”
“I do?”
“You fell asleep last night.”
“Right.”
I couldn’t remember how, but somehow we ended up fucking in the storage room. It was a quick and hard fuck and after we came he held me and whispered into my ear: “Happy New Year.”
It was way easier to disappear without being seen than to come back. But after five years I didn’t care about it anymore. They knew us.
It was 11 PM when another guest arrived and Ted announced their surprise. “Well, this won’t be a normal New Years Eve, at least not for Blake and me. It will also be our wedding day.”
Emmett's POV
Remember what I told you about being alone and how much it sucked when you’re surrounded by couples – by happy couples? Well, it sucks even more when you’re alone at a wedding.
To be honest, I somehow knew it would end up in a wedding. I mean what else could be the big surprise at a party in a private house with all the people they loved? It was 11 PM when the minister arrived, and Teddy told us that he and Blake had decided to get married.
And because I knew what would happen I had bought a small bouquet and some rice. I’m the best friend, I’m supposed to make it the best day in his life – and I didn’t have to clean up the place.
Of course when they announced their surprise the public mood reached a new level. Especially the girls, who were totally euphoric and happy. Ben, Michael, Carl, and Justin congratulated them like people used to do and Brian just said, “Another monumentally step back for the emancipation of free gays,” before he hugged Ted.
And I... well I had my typical “O my god” queeny moment, hugged them both and then told them that I knew it would happen, gave them the bouquet and the rice to all the others.
The ceremony was wonderful, adorable, and touching. Debbie and I ended up as best men and we both cried most of time, especially during their vows.
“From the moment I met you I knew you were the one”, Ted said. “And even though no one believed that we could make it, I always knew it was only time. I love you.”
Fuck romantic! Fuck love! Fuck marriages! Thank god for tissues.
Fifteen minutes later everything was over and they were as married as it was allowed for a gay couple. They kissed, they hugged, they smiled... they were happy. And so was I. Of course I was. He was my best friend, he finally found the love of his life, and he finally got married. I couldn’t think about any other guy on this planet who deserved it more than Teddy.
Somehow I didn’t consider that throwing the bouquet required some unmarried guests. And it seemed that I was the only one, which of course increased my chance of catching it.
“Justin, come here”, I said and waved to him. They weren’t married, right? They were just wearing the rings; that’s what they said. And I wasn’t desperate or drunk enough to ask Brian Kinney to fight with me over a bouquet of flowers. “You two aren’t officially married, so come here.”
“He’s right”, Justin said, looked at Brian and kissed him. “You owe me a wedding.”
“He already got the wedding night though, didn’t he?” Debbie said.
“There was a time when that was the only reason to get married,” Carl sighed and looked at his girlfriend. “Good old times, huh?”
Justin didn’t really try to catch the bouquet and so it ended up in my hand and I got all the kisses and best wishes. I said a quick prayer that these fucking flowers really meant something. The next wedding had to be mine. I wasn’t willing to plan any other friends’ marriages anymore as long as I wasn’t wearing a golden ring on my finger.
A few minutes later I was standing in the kitchen with Teddy.
“I can’t believe I’m married,” he said.
I gave him one of my biggest smiles and hugged him. “I can.”
“Thanks Em, for everything.” He kissed me. “You know I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you.”
“Nonsense.”
“No, it’s true. And... I know that you really hate being single and so... I thought it’s about time to change that.”
We agreed on that, but what was I supposed to do? I was the only single person on that party. “What do you mean?”
He just shrugged.
“Congratulations.”
“Thank you!” I said automatically when I heard the voice and turned around. “Thank...you...” Just to stand right in front of... “Drew, you... here?” I dropped the bouquet down.
He nodded. “Ted invited me.”
“Really?” I looked at Ted who shrugged again and put his arm around Blake for another kiss. Fuck! He could’ve warned me. I cleared my throat. “And what... what are you doing here?”
“I just wanted to see you.”
Really? O my god. Inwardly I was jumping up and down. Fuck the virgin stuff – with him being here I wasn’t a single anymore and god knew I missed him. And if he really had to... fuck around... well, we could figure that out later. I tried to play it cool.
“That was my line”, I said. “Don’t you have your own?”
He smiled at me, took out his cell phone and a few seconds later I felt the vibration in my trouser pocket. What kind of weird game was that supposed to be? I answered the phone.
“Hey, it’s me, Drew. Remember that I should call you when I got my 21st birthday?”
He was good. He looked me straight in the eyes.
“Sure”, I answered.
“I think I’m already close to the 30th. So... if you don’t mind I would like to take you up on your offer.”
He was really good.
“I don’t mind.”
“Good. I thought, maybe you need someone to kiss at midnight.”
He was amazing and honestly, he already got me when he stole my line. “O, yeah... yeah, that would be nice. Nothing’s worse than being alone at midnight on New Year’s Eve, surrounded by couples.”
He nodded and hung up. “Do you think we can practice a little before? So we don’t embarrass ourselves later.”
O my god.
Justin's POV
I leaned against Brian while watching Emmett and Drew. This was sort of a perfect moment. And I remembered a lot of moments that hadn’t been that perfect because there was always at least one of us who wasn’t perfectly happy. But in those few seconds ... everything was just perfect.
“He’s hot,” I said.
“You should see him in underwear,” Brian answered.
“Guess I will soon. Everybody will. So, did you fuck him?”
He laughed. “No. But I should have, since now he’s out of reach again.”
I turned around and kissed his neck. “I have a plan, wanna hear it?”
He looked down at me and frowned. “Another plan?”
“Yeah.”
“Tell me?”
I put my arms around his waist and leaned my chin against his chest. “I know we had planed to stay at the loft tonight, but... I haven’t drunk any kind of alcohol so far and I would prefer to spend this night at the house. We... could start in the living room and... see how many rooms we reached on our way to the bed. We have to celebrate the New Year.”
It was my last night in town, and even though things would change from now on – because I would take care of that – I wanted to live that night. I didn’t want to spend it at the loft; I wanted it to be something special. Especially since this year wasn’t just another year. So many things had happened, so many things had changed.
“That’s your plan?”
I nodded. “Do you like it?”
“I fucking love it.” He leaned down to kiss me when Debbie started to count down to the year 2006.
“Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one – Happy New Year!”
You wouldn’t think that 20 people could make such a noise.
We didn’t pay any attention to them, we kept kissing each other and no one even tried to come between us.
At least for the first 30 seconds of the New Year.
- - - - - - - -
Like I said, the Series doesn't end here