This blond should come with a severe weather advisory. He was hot, fucking scorching, yet he could elicit an icy chill into the air when he was pissed. Like now. A storm of emotions stirred within Brian. He could bring the sun with a smile and surely the rain with his tears. Justin Taylor, meteorologist.

Exiting the stage with Gus, Brian had seen Justin's smiling face approaching him. He had also seen the fast approaching Emmett and Hunter. Now, he knew he should've just stayed still, let all three men greet him, perhaps even introduce Justin to his friends.

'Christ, he had wanted to do that. Wanted to pull the blond close, wanted to continue the day on good terms with the man.'

He hadn't. He couldn't.

'No. He had instead opted to wear the coward mask, with a hint of 'uncaring asshole' to accessorize.'

Sure, he'd seen the hurt find those crystal blues when he breezed passed Justin. His Oscar worthy performance acting as if he didn't know him, as if he didn't care.

Emmy Lou and the Hustler came to bring Gus his bear, 'Mental note: Kill Lindsay' which they had done. 'So why-the-fuck were they still here?' They needed to leave so Brian could begin damage control.

The teacher was disappointed, most likely livid but Brian wasn't too worried. A little sweet talking and Justin would forgive him. 'Right? Right.'

'Wrong.' Justin mentally answered the smug smile on Brian's face. Knowing the Brunet as well as he did (in such a short amount of time) he knew Brian thought he'd just get over being treated like a stranger. Like he didn't matter.

As soon as he had seen the other man's friends Justin knew a major shift was eminent in today's mood.

If Brian was embarrassed by him then too damn bad for him. Though it had hurt when the man introduced him carelessly as 'Oh, he's Gus's teacher.' he wasn't going to show it.

As his tears risked a downpour, Justin drew strength from his heart. A heart he wasn't about to let this arrogant man break. He had proudly introduced himself to Emmett and Hunter, and was currently walking tall through the rest of the Water's Edge exhibit.

He let his eyes absorb the gorgeous man with the enormous ego. 'Game on Kinney.' he thought, and joined Layla in line to get her picture taken with 'Snowflake' the polar bear.

"Oh, Gus. Maybe you should be in this picture by yourself." Brian tried to persuade his son. With his wet clothes clinging to his body he didn't want to pose with this man in a bear costume.

"No way Daddy!" Gus ordered. "This is gonna go in my special box. Yeah, right next to the one with us and the candy."

Brian shuddered at the blue haired memory and made another Mental note: 'Find said box. Burn it to ash.'

As they walked towards the penguin house, Gus noticed Layla staring intensely at his newly present family members.

"Why are you staring at Uncle Hunter and Auntie Em'?" he inquired.

Layla swallowed, her eyes widened. "Your Aunt's a boy?"

Gus just shrugged. "Yeah."

"That's cool. All my aunts are just girls." she replied with disappointment.

"Yeah," Gus nodded "and Uncle Hunter's not really my Uncle. Uncle Mikey and Uncle Ben adapted him from like the pound or something. He's Jenny's brother, like me, but Uncle Hunter's not my brother though." he explained the best he could.

Layla tried her best to follow along, but it sure was confusing. She recalled the family picture Gus had drawn in class. Although she couldn't remember everyone on it, she promised herself that she would learn and understand Gus's family tree house.

Right now her five year old mind was wrapping itself around Hunter being adapted. When they had gotten her puppy from the pound, he'd been in a cage with a tiny dish and a paper to potty on. She pictured Gus's non-uncle in a cage, drinking from a dish. She shook the image away. 'She sure was glad she was never adapted.'

A sea of black and white waddled behind the glass wall. Excited exclaims filled the air (mostly from Emmett).

Miss Daphne instructed the kids to put their zoo keys into the box infront of the penguins.

A ridiculous song that grated Brian's already frayed nerves performed for the breeze. Emmett clapped.

The automated voice spoke:

"Adelie penguins are among nature's monogamous creatures. The male penguins will travel to the ends of the Earth, forever if necessary, until they find that one special mate. They love only them for the rest of their lives."

'Poor Bastards' Brian thought.

Layla smiled and turned to her boyfriend "You're my penguin Gussie!" she squealed and pulled him into a hug.

Gus pushed her away, "Stop it Layla! I'm not your boyfriend," he said exasperatedly "and don't call me Gussie."

A quiver found it's way to her lips, and tears glistened on the surface of her eyes. She took a deep breath. 'No. She was not going to cry. She didn't need a boyfriend. Boys were nothin' but trouble anyways.'

"That's fine." she said simply then went to find Miss Daphne. She needed some girl time.

"Gus that was harsh little dude." Hunter told the miniature heartbreaker.

The boy shrugged. Sure he'd felt bad for being mean to his friend, but he'd had enough.

Emmett couldn't believe what he'd just witnessed. Not only was this boy a physical clone of his father; his attitude towards commitment was also a carbon copy of Brian's.

Speaking of (or thinking of) Emmett's eyes caressed this pretty blond from top to delicious bottom. He had seen the hurt in the man's eyes as they'd walked up to Brian. He had seen the near devastation when Kinney had introduced him as nothing more than 'Gus's teacher'. Most importantly, he had seen Brian see it too.

'Sad.' Clearly something was going on beneath the surface of this sea of secrets.

As expected, Brian had berated them for being there. As expected, he'd cursed them under his breath and attempted to murder them with his eyes. As expected, he and Hunter hadn't cared.

Emmett had hoped to follow them around a little more before revealing his presence. However, he was cursed with a voice that carried. Aunt Lula always told him 'his laughter danced with the wind'. Today though, Emmett concluded it was just fucking loud. Brian had heard him at the show and looked directly at them. He had seen them already, but he wasn't ready to leave just yet.

Feeling the energy emitted from both the blond and brunet, Emmett was genuinely surprised at the lack of physical sparks.

Something about this young teacher had immediately struck a harmonious chord with Emmett. He liked him, truly and wholeheartedly. Every bone in his body was telling him that Mr. Kinney did too.

"You've got some competition Em'," Brian chuckled and gestured towards the flamingos. "I think his flame is queerer than yours."

"No chance." Emmett smiled.

Brian raised an eyebrow and feigned indifference "Why the fuck are you still here anyway?" he asked while imagining his hands strangling the man's neck.

"Oh, just enjoying a stroll, taking in the sights." he responded, pointedly looking at Justin's ass. He was delighted by the flicker of anger that momentarily grazed hazel.

Brian noticed the hustler approaching Justin and beelined quickly to intercept. Too late.

"So, did he fuck you yet? We got a bet to settle." Hunter stated bluntly.

Justin choked. Emmett gasped, and shot Hunter a disapproving look. Brian growled.

"Don't you have somewhere to be? You (he looked at Emmett) a parade? (He looked at Hunter) and you a snatch?" Brian snapped.

Both men just stared at him, Justin (thankfully) was granted a reprieve when he heard Layla calling him.

When Justin was out of earshot, Emmett smiled knowingly. Brian felt his organs tie themselves into a knot of avoidance.

'He wasn't talking about this.'

His mouth opened without consent from his brain. The words tasted bitter and disgusting, he spit them out.

"Don't look at me like that Honeycutt. Justin is not my anything." he said sternly, stormed away, and wondered why he was such a bastard.

Unbeknownst to Brian, two tiny ears had heard his declaration.


'Not his anything?' Gus's words echoed through his mind. 'OK Kinney, we'll see how much you don't care. You 'll want my anything when you have my nothing.' Justin halted the cascading water. Brian would not be privileged to a Single. Fucking. Tear.

He looked down at the child and remembered his question. 'Daddy said you're not his anything, but you're still my something aren't you?'

"Yes, Gus." Justin finally managed to answer his student "I'm your teacher and your friend." he smiled reassuringly and took the boys hand.

Justin knew the very last thing Brian would want was for his friends to join them for lunch. He smiled. Naturally, the very first thing he would do, was invite them.