Justin was living with Ethan and they were very happy. After Ethan did well in the Heifetz competition, he was offered a deal to tour Europe. He decided to go and asked Justin to go with him. To avoid any gay rumors they explained that Justin was Ethan's cousin. They toured Europe together for over a year. Justin enjoyed painting scenes all over Europe and also got into photography. Justin attended some seminars and did short study periods with art schools there.
When Justin first took off with Ethan, Michael was upset with him. Michael could see how Brian was hurting and hated to see his friend in pain. Brian told 'Mikey' that Justin had made a choice and that none of them should be mad at the kid for making his own decisions to be happy. Michael softened and slowly changed his mind about his friends' breakup.
One way that Justin would keep in contact with 'the gang' back home was with postcards. He had a list of people to mail to and postcards were a cheap way of keeping in touch. Being an artist, he appreciated pen to paper notes over e-mails, although he'd send them, too. He would select postcards with great landscapes and scenes from all over Europe. The notes would be simple and heartfelt. Brian was on his list of recipients.
Brian would get the upbeat notes from Justin and read them over and over again. Good, he's better off without me. He certainly missed Justin (and hoped kid missed him, too), but they'd moved on with their lives. Brian always thought that Ethan would do something asinine that would piss off Justin, but, he had to hand it to the fiddler, he seemed to be making a go of it.
Emmett, Ted, Michael and Brian would still hang out at Babylon and Woody's. One night they spotted a tall, handsome fellow on the dance floor. Brian approached him and they shared a sexy dance. All eyes were on them as they gyrated together. They shared a backroom encounter and then Brian brought him back to the loft. The guy, Logan, was a successful lawyer who had just moved to Pittsburgh from Chicago. He was an inch taller and a year older than Brian, with wavy reddish-brown hair. He was very fit and went to the gym several times a week.
A few nights later, Brian and Logan hooked up again. The sex was hot and there was chemistry between them. For the second time in his life, Brian broke his 'no repeats' rule and saw Logan more than once. Their seeing each other was mostly about the sex. They'd meet up at a bar and then go to either the loft or Logan's apartment and fuck well into the night.
Brian had always had the policy of kicking a guy out after sex. Justin was the only guy for whom Brian that broke that rule. After seeing Logan for a while, though, Brian asked him to stay the night. If anything, it would allow for a morning fuck that they might both enjoy. Logan declined and, further, would not let Brian stay the night at his place. Logan was out Brian-ing Brian on that front.
Other less than desirable things about Logan became evident to Brian. Logan gambled and did a lot of off-track betting. And, as much as Brian enjoyed an occasional hit of E or poppers, Logan seemed to take his drug use to a further extreme. He insisted that the drugs gave him an edge in his law practice, although Brian didn't see how being so stoned could be any advantage in court.
After a few months 'together' Brian and Logan agreed to meet for dinner to celebrate Brian being made partner in the ad firm. Brian showed up on time and even got a table for two, but Logan never showed. Brian dined alone. Finally, Logan answered Brian's cell phone call. Logan was obviously high or drunk or both and wasn't even apologetic about breaking their date.
Michael and the guys would ask Brian where Logan was and it was increasingly obvious that Logan was treating Brian like crap. Brian didn't consider himself worthy of consideration, so he would just take it. He would play it off saying "I didn't need to see him tonight, anyway." But the guys could tell that he was disappointed.
The fast-paced lifestyle soon caught up with Logan. Showing up at work high or late or both eventually got him fired. It didn't take him long to ask Brian for some money. They wrote up an agreement for paying back, not unlike Justin's school loan. Logan never paid a dime of it back.
One weekend Brian went away for a business trip and when he returned a number of the more valuable things from the loft were missing. It was like someone just strategically ripped off the most expensive things. Brian didn't suspect a general robbery, but he DID suspect Logan. They'd been at the loft together enough times that Logan could have memorized the key code for the alarm.
Brian confronted Logan at his apartment. At first the ex-lawyer denied any knowledge of the robbery, but then Brian spotted his expensive DVD player on the floor of a closet in the apartment. Logan finally admitted that he needed to 'borrow' the things for some extra money. There was a huge fight and they came to blows. Brian landed a punch to Logan's jaw that flattened the guy. He called the cops and filled out a report against Logan. They were over.
Logan fought the charges, but was convicted and ordered to spend some time in jail and to pay Brian back for the sold items. When Logan got out of jail he flew to Las Vegas. Pittsburgh didn't work out for him, he decided, and he needed a new start. Brian was glad that Logan was out of their lives.
Brian's POV
Logan is a fucking piece of shit. I'm glad he's moving away. I don't want to run into him anywhere around Pittsburgh. Sure, we had fun at the start, but things went bad quickly enough. One of the worst things was how inconsiderate he was. He'd blow off dinner for no reason. He'd have me clear a night to be with him and then he'd get wasted with his other friends and never show up to see me.
Justin, as young as he is, understands consideration of others. He's the kind of person you can rely on. He was always there – being a companion when you needed one. Like when I was fighting with Mikey; I asked Justin to come over and he and I sat in the recliner, naked of course, and ate ice cream. Sometimes I think that Justin was the best thing that ever happened to me. But, the kid made his own choices. He found someone his own age that must be treating him well.
I don't think I deserve someone like Justin. Maybe I'm a piece of shit, too.
End POV
Meanwhile, life went on for the folks of Liberty Avenue. Brian took on the ad campaign for the police chief, Dan Stockwell, who was running for mayor. A lot of his friends were upset with him - promoting a man with such anti-gay policies, but Brian saw that the money was green and was hoping that getting a win for Stockwell would lead to other successes in the ad business.
Stockwell pushed raids on local porn operations and Ted was caught up in a raid where it turned out, unbeknownst to Ted, his assistant was underage. Ted was arrested. Emmett made a plea to Brian to do what he could to talk to Stockwell and get Ted free from the charges. Brian pretended not to care, but he didn't want to see Ted locked away for something so stupid as having an underage worker. He convinced Stockwell that pushing Ted's case was 'yesterday's news' and not good for the campaign. The charges were dropped.
It soon became more and more evident to Brian, however, that Stockwell was trying to shut down everything Brian held dear in the gay neighborhood; the bars, the dance clubs, the bath houses. Another issue that bothered Brian was Stockwell's possible involvement with the murder of a young man that the local headlines nicknamed "Dumpster Boy". Debbie found out that the young man's name was Jason Kemp and she did what she could to find his killer. A number of people got involved, including Michael's teenage foster son Hunter, and Brian put the pieces together. They had proof that a former cop was the killer and Stockwell had hidden the fact. Carl Horvath and the police force couldn't tie the information together enough to arrest the former cop.
Brian quietly put together a commercial spot that was anti-Stockwell with the facts of Kemp's death and Stockwell's association with the killer. Stockwell's opponent, Councilman Dinkins, agreed to run the spot. It ran and the gay voters came out in support of Dinkins, defeating Stockwell. The ad had the 'earmarks' of Brian Kinney on it, although the name on the ad was Concerned Citizens for the Truth. Brian's boss called him on it and he admitted to assembling the ad. He got fired.
After a few weeks of unemployment, Brian started to consider opening his own ad agency. He got a call from Cynthia and she convinced him that he should do it. She told him she could help him land his first big account, Remsen Pharmaceuticals. Michael told Justin via e-mail that Brian was considering starting his own agency. Brian got an e-mail right away from Justin. It simply said, "Call your company Kinnetik. – J". Brian laughed and then considered the name. It fit. He told Cynthia that they would go ahead and start Kinnetik. Later, he got a postcard from Justin with a logo design for Kinnetik sketched on it. The new company landed the Remsen account.
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After Ethan's European tour ended, he got an offer from the Boston Philharmonic. He and Justin got an apartment on the outskirts of Boston. Sometimes Ethan would go on city jaunts by himself to perform around the East coast. One such trip was to New York. After he returned, a fan from New York showed up at Ethan and Justin's apartment. The guy was holding a dozen red roses and, from their conversation, Justin surmised that Ethan had had an affair with the fan. He wondered just how many other 'fans' Ethan had for all the time he was performing. He hadn't noticed anything unusual, but he certainly didn't want to spend time thinking like that, he just wanted the hurt and betrayal to stop. Justin broke up with Ethan. The promise of fidelity and eternal love was over.
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Just as Justin was packing to leave Boston, he got a phone call from Lindsay.
"Hey, Lindsay."
"Justin, honey. How are you?"
"Not a good day to ask me."
"Why, what's wrong?"
"Long story short – Ethan and I broke up and I'm coming home to Pittsburgh."
"What happened?"
"Let's just say the promises he made were empty promises."
"Oh, I'm so sorry." She paused. "I'll be glad to have you back home, though."
"Thanks. It'll be good to be home. I don't think I want to live with mom, though. I want to enjoy some independence. Maybe I'll get my own place."
"Stay with Mel and me, at least for starters. We have that upstairs bedroom. You'll be welcome here."
"That'd be great Lindsay. I wouldn't be any trouble, I promise."
"I'll ask Mel, but I'm sure it'd be fine with her."
"Great!" He thought a second. "Why did you call?"
"I must have detected that my young friend needed a friend. That and, I was wondering if you could talk to Brian."
"Me? Talk to him? Why?"
She filled Justin on the whole Brian/Logan relationship, including the theft. "Brian has been really depressed and I'm worried about him. Maybe if you're going to be back in town you could meet with him and cheer him up."
"I wouldn't mind seeing him again. He'll always have a special place in my heart."
"Would you consider dating him again? Or whatever the heck you called it – the non-relationship relationship?"
"Yeah. I mean, yeah I would. But, who can predict what he'll want." He chuckled at that. "I've decided that, since I'm single again, I'm going to have some fun and play the field a little. If Brian wants to be one of the guys I'm with, then great."
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Emmett, Michael, Ted, and Brian were at Babylon one night. Brian had already been in the back room once with a trick.
The music changed. The strains of "Let's Hear It for the Boy" started. The sweaty bodies of Babylon continued to pump their bodies to the beat. Slowly, the crowd parted a little and a familiar face smiled at the men at the bar as he walked forward.
Emmett noticed him first, then Michael. They smiled. Brian looked at their faces and then turned to see what or who they were looking at.
As Brian saw him, he sighed the name in one slow breath. "Justin."