Chapter 02: Finders Keepers

...

Blood is like water,
The bath that you poured me,
Has drained and it's gone.

Don't blame it on your son.

And the song you sing today
Wasn't always in your head,
The words you tryin' to say,
Are the ones you shouldn've said,
They're glistening like diamonds.

Go out and find'em.

The world is full of diamonds,
Go out and find'em,
But don't blame your daughter.

The Cardigans – Don't Blame Your Daughter (Diamonds)

...

Lying in bed, sucking on a cigarette and thinking about a certain blond, surely Brian Kinney had better work to do but then again he just couldn't concentrate on doing anything else but the said above.

It had been three days since Debbie had told Brian about Justin's existence. Even though he was considered to be a genius or at least very empathetic and perspicacious the young man had no idea of how he could help the teenage boy. It seemed as if Justin's life had been and was far worse than what his own life had been and that was reason enough for Brian to try and find the young boy.

There were a few problems though.

The first one was of how Brian could make sure that Justin was in fact homeless? Debbie had told him that the blond dragged a large duffel bag with himself all of the time, that he was progressively loosing weigh and that he spent a lot of time in the diner's bathroom, but was that enough information? Maybe the kid was simply a weirdo.

The second problem was of how it was expected of him to proceed towards the teen's situation. If he had run away from home it meant that it must have been some unbearably awful place. If he was in foster care or was adopted it meant that he was either antisocial or had problems from the past that he didn't want any strangers to find out about. Either way the brunet knew that Justin was running away from someone or something.

Suddenly Brian Kinney got one of his splendid ideas.

He got up from his bed and walked over to one of the drawers, where he pulled out a video camera from. Ever the technologies hog, Brian had purchased one of Sony's latest 2010 models which had night vision, a MicroSD card slot and also a Li-ion battery which all allowed the record to be extra long and clear. In other words - he was well equipped.

The brunet knew that if he placed the camera on the right spot and the battery lasted long enough he could find the answers to some of his questions. After all, images usually said a lot more than words could ever express.

...

"You should go out more often, you know?"

"Because?"

"Because you can't stay single for the rest of your life.

"I'm a fag. It's not like I'm expected to continue the great Kinney bloodline nor do I really want to. And I had my fun a few years ago, now my job is far more important than being a tweaked out club boy."

"Oh, please!"

"Its my life. I make the choices."

„Honey, let me ask you what we have been doing every Friday since two years?"

"I invite you to spend the evening with me?"

"And we act as if we were two teen girls. No sunshine nor moonshine, just you using me as some kind of therapist. You should take example from Michael."

„I should go shake my ass at Babylon? And Deb...I have alcoholic genes from both sides of the family. I can't risk becoming something worse than what I already am. That rule goes for weed and other drugs, too."

"Brian! You are...

"What? Boring?"

"No...You are too serious and self-centered."

"You know me best, mother."

"I'm worrying about you. You need to relax more often."

"Dancing isn't my thing these days..."

"Books and old movies are, I know."

"And you know that talking to me is a pleasurable act."

"Stop smiling like the Cheshire cat, you little shit."

"Now, now. You just hurt my feelings."

"Those are damaged beyond repair and I know that you talking to me is your only way to keep your balance."

"Deb, please don't turn in to a shrink extraordinaire. I ignored you calling yourself "my therapist" once but enough is enough."

"I just fear you being left alone."

"Don't."

"How can I not fear that happening when you isolate yourself from having any social contacts outside of work. That's not healthy nor is it sane."

"You telling me I need lithium? You know that shit'll make me fat?"

"Smartass."

"Just don't worry. When I find the right guy I'll turn him my partner."

"But when will the right guy come? Knowing your picky taste it might be never."

"It's only time. Eventually things'll happen as they are meant to be."

"Since when do you believe in fate?"

"I don't."

"You are such a liar."

"It's not laying if they make you lie."

...

When the next day came and the clock indicated that it was 7 P.M., Brian put his plan in to action. Once again he didn't see anyone or anything out of the ordinary while he was in the alley and because of that he went straight back home after he placed the camera. "Home", at least in time the young man had found a place that he could call "home", something that his own parents couldn't and wouldn't provide him with.

…

Slowly the darkness of the night embraced the city. It was a night of anticipation and hope, a night that was replaced by the bright lights of a day that could change lives.

The first task on Brian's schedule for the day was to check if his plan had succeeded. He put on some casual clothes, went down the stairs and then straight in to the alley.

He found the camera at the exact same spot where he had left it. The rather tall young man picked up his possession and took out the SD card which he put directly in to his laptop the moment he was back at his loft. Brian started to play the record with high hopes of finding the solutions to some of his problems. However as he finished playing it his mood drastically changed - sadly there was noting useful on the memory card.

Even though that first night faced Brian with a failure, he didn't feel discouraged and so for the next two weeks he kept on placing the camera under different angles in the alley. During that time he received news from Debbie about Justin, news that weren't cheery. In her words Justin's clothes were dirty and abnormally large on him, his hair had become long and greasy, his eyes looked empty and his behavior had changed to one of a very paranoid person. Knowing those facts made Brian feel helpless, something he hadn't experienced in nearly ten years.

And then it happened, twenty days after Brian heard Justin's name for the first time he saw his face. No, he didn't want to see or confront the teen before he had any evidence or serious proof that the teen was indeed living on the street but seeing Justin's face...Brian's hearth practically skipped a beat and his breath got caught in his lungs - he was looking at the most innocent and truly beautiful creature he had ever seen.

Apart from that the view was sickening. The teen was wrapped up in a few blankets which Brian suspected were kept in the duffel bag that Debbie had mentioned. It was obvious that they were dirty and not very warm since Justin's body was shivering and he was tossing and turning in his sleep. But what truly pained Brian was the plea that he young boy uttered in his sleep - "Please...Don't...I don't want that..."

Brian had never had the courage to run away from home even though there were times when the situations at his house were extremely horrid. Having that in mind, he could tell that Justin's past was probably one filled with terror and pain. The only problem was that the young man's guess was in truth an understatement of what the teen boy had gone through.

The brunet knew that the first thing he had to do that morning was to inform Debbie about the fact that he finally collected the evidence that they needed to confront the boy. His second task was to actually talk to Justin. Brian knew that victims of abuse were closed-in-themselves people who preferred to ignore the past and disliked having social contacts, after all he was one of them. He also knew that he had stopped running away from his problems and had had the strength to confront them but he guessed that Justin wasn't quite there yet, that he might need a few years or even a lifetime to be able to confront his fears without actually fearing them.

On the other hand Brian was stunned by his own eagerness to help and protect the blond, something he had never experienced in his life till that moment. Was he actually falling for a complete stranger?

Maybe yes, maybe no.

After having gathered all of the information that he needed, Brian literally raced to the diner. He needed to tell Debbie.

"What's up with you so early in the morning?"

„I need to talk to you. Now."

She looked at him confusedly.

"Is everything okay?"

"No. Everything is not okay. We need to talk privately. Right now."

After she heard what Brian had to say, the usually hyperactive redhead became shocked, upset, pissed off, and for-once-speechless.

"I can't believe it. That's...that's what Sunshine's been going through?"

"I bet he's been there for the past month or so. Where is he anyway, any idea?"

"He'll be at the diner tomorrow at around 6 A.M. I should talk to him!"

"I know what he's going through or so I think. I should be the one talking to him."

"All right. Be there tomorrow morning."

...

When Justin entered the diner he saw Debbie talking to a stranger. Said stranger was a tall brunet with a rather peculiar yet refined air about him. His presence did surprise the teen but the young boy became truly worried when the two adults stood up and walked over to his boot. Was that man a social worker?

"It's okay. We just want to talk to you", Brian said.

Justin shared a glance with Debbie who nodded and smiled in reassurance.

"Well boys, I won't be disturbing you so I'm taking my leave."

"I'm Brian Kinney. May I know your name?"

"Justin."

"Just one name?", Brian joked as he sat down across the teen.

"No", Justin answered shyly.

"What's your last name?"

"Taylor", the blond answered quietly.

"Justin Taylor. Nice name. I like it."

"You do?"

"Yeah. You don't look bad either."

"Uhm...Thanks", Justin said as a bright red blush crept all over his face.

"Shouldn't you be at school?"

"I don't have school today."

"Then you should be at home."

"I felt like walking around a bit and then I decided to get something to eat."

"You could just eat at home, instead of spending money at the diner."

„Does he know something? He acts suspicious. Could it be that he is in fact a social worker? Did Debbie call him? Have I been caught? Will they force me to go back to Craig's?''

"Justin?"

"Huh?"

"Where did you just go?"

"What? Oh...I was thinking. I seem to do that a lot."

"I used to think a lot when I was your age, too. You know...My father used to beat me up on a regular basis and my mother would tell me that it would have been better if I had been a stillborn."

"I don't mean to sound rude or anything but why are you telling me this? We just met."

"I want you to know that you can talk to me."

„He definitely knows."

"You know don't you?"

"I don't know all the details but I know that you showed up on Liberty Avenue a month ago, that you have lost a lot of weight and that you have been wearing the same clothes for some time now."

"Oh..."

"Let me finish. For the past month I kept on hearing weird noises coming out of the alley next to my apartment building. I am a curious man and because of that trait of mine I had a camera record the nightly activities that seamed to happen in the alley. Last night I caught you on tape."

Justin remained silent.

"Please don't be mad. Debbie was worried about you and so was I."

Then Brian realized what he had just confessed.

„Oh well. Too late now. He knows my secret and I know his."

...