Author's Note: Oh, Daphne. I just love you to death. If you ever decide to become more than just a fan of lesbianism, give me a call. Anyway, I started this story over a year and a half ago, and just randomly decided to give it a massive rewrite and finish it. I'll have a lot of freetime until my season three DVD's come next week.
Author's Note Two: This is a fixit, so there's spoilers everywhere.
Disclaimer: I don't own Queer as Folk. If I did, Brian and Justin would have ended up together on the screen instead of on paper.

The Biggest Mistake

Justin: So what do you do when you realize you made the biggest fucking mistake of your pathetic, stupid life?

Deep down I think all us girls want is to be a part of a big love story. You know, the kind where the Princess fucks up and the Prince rides in to save the day (well, I'm a modern woman, modern enough to know that sometimes it's the Prince that needs the saving. But I digress). Where at the end there's this huge climatic kiss that tells you everything you need to know-that this pair is in it for life. We were all raised on Sleeping Beauty and Snow White so really, what can you expect?

When I was 17 my best friend met and fell in love with the person least likely to reciprocate his feelings. Brian Kinney was a legend, famous to everyone that spent any time on Liberty Ave. - his fucks were epic, his philosophies moreso. It was common knowledge that Brian didn't do boyfriends, and certainly didn't do love. And everyone warned Justin not to get attached because he wouldn't get what he wanted.

Except that he did. Somehow my best friend found a way to be loved by the eternal bachelor, the Peter Pan of the queer sect. And, I mean, okay, it did take Brian five years to say the words Justin said to him the day they met, but as long as we're being honest here, if someone pays for your schooling after you dump them (in a crowded room, in front of everyone), takes you back the night you ask, not to mention, oh, I don't know, being with you every day after you've been beaten in the head with a baseball bat, you shouldn't waste your time worrying about how they feel. It's pretty obvious. But Justin rarely listens to me.

They were gonna be married, you know. Get all dressed up and tell each other in front of their friends and family why they couldn't bear the thought of living without the other person. But the thing you gotta understand about Justin-or you'll never understand the Part Two of their story that I'm about to share with you- is that his whole gay life had been about Brian. And he knew that if he didn't go to New York and try to become something more, he and Brian both would always wonder if he was with Brian because he wanted to be, or if he was just afraid of being alone. So he had to try it, for the good of their Epic Love Story.

Justin had been gone for a year and a half when he called me and asked me to go to New York to see him. I thought I was in for a week of expensive shopping and great pizza, so I'm sure you can imagine my shock when I stepped into his apartment and saw nearly a dozen sealed boxes lining the wall to the living room.

For a second I didn't move and the only sound was that of Justin shutting the front door. I could feel his eyes staring into the back of my skull while I processed what I was seeing. "Justin you've lived here for a year and a half," I eventually said. "I'm pretty sure it's safe to unpack." Because I wanted so badly to believe what my mind was whispering, but unbelievably amazing things don't usually happen to people like me.

Justin laughed and swung his arm across my shoulders. "Yeah, but I was thinking it might be more fun to do that in Pittsburgh."

It took every ounce of self-control I possessed to avoid shrieking out loud. I had missed Justin more than I had thought I would, and was slowly getting to a point where I was going to go crazy without my sounding board. What? He's not the only one with problems. "You're moving back," I demanded for clarification.

"Well this whole finding myself thing has been a lot of fun-and, thanks to my artistic genius, lucrative-" Here I rolled my eyes. "But there's no Woody's up here," he teased. Then there was a flicker and his eyes turned more serious. "And plus, I guess I kind of miss you, and Mom, and-"

"Brian," I finished for him. I grabbed a glass that was drying on the counter, and poured myself some water, the only thing he had in the fridge.

Justin rolled his eyes. "Daph, please. I'm completely over Brian Kinney," he answered, but his voice shook, and I'd known him long enough to translate that with ease.

I licked my lips carefully before responding. This was the opening I had been waiting for, but it took me a second to summon the words. No matter what Justin was pretending to feel, the news I had to deliver would not be welcome. "Well that's probably for the best anyway," I began.

"Why," Justin asked distractedly, as he pulled a tin box from the drawer of his coffee table. He would be needing that shortly, that was for sure.

I took a deep breath and just dove right in. "He's been seeing someone."

Complete silence filled the room, and I glanced at my friend to be sure he had heard me. Based on his expression, he had.

"What do you mean, 'seeing someone,'" Justin finally answered. "You're saying . . . What? He has a boyfriend? A boyfriend?" Yeah, it had seemed pretty ludicrous to me too when I'd first heard, considering Brian had had exactly one boyfriend his whole life - the guy I was standing with.

I stepped close and laid my hand on Justin's shoulder. "I'm sorry," I said. I really was. Even to a slightly-outsider like myself, the idea of either one of them finding happiness without the other was like trying to understand physics. You see what's happening with your eyes, but it doesn't really make sense. "They've been, uh, together for four months."

"Four months," Justin repeated incredulously. "Brian has been . . . Dating someone for four fucking months and you're just now mentioning it? God, Daphne. You're supposed to keep me updated on this kind of thing!"

I frowned in annoyance. "You need to chill out. I only just heard, and it's not the easiest thing to tell your best friend over the phone. 'Hey, you're soulmate's found someone. Thought you'd like to know.' Justin, it's not like I get my kicks out of watching you suffer."

He fell silent again while he processed, until he slid his eyes over to meet mine. The corners of his lips turned up to form a tiny smile. "Well, are you going to help me win him back or what?"