Brian sighed as he hung up the phone in his office following a call from Lindsay informing him that they had lost their appeal to the school board to have her reinstated. It meant going to court; which meant more money. It had been over two months since Lindsay's termination and Brian was increasingly apprehensive about pursuing the case. Not that he lacked confidence in her position or her attorney for that matter. Brian had to admit Melanie was impressive. In the matter of a week, she had brow-beaten the school into reinstating Justin and all but erasing the disciplinary action on his record. It was a good thing too because Justin was just completing his college applications and with a 1500 on his SAT's he could pretty much right his own ticket as long as his record was clean.
Lindsay had spent the last two months encouraging him to look for art schools and functioning as his pseudo-parent, taking him to check out the area campuses. He was happy for Justin and got a kick out of his enthusiasm but wished that Lindsay would spend more time looking for a job and less time re-living her artist fantasies vicariously through Justin. It's not that Brian didn't understand why she was so enthralled with Justin's school applications. They had both drifted so far away from where they planned to be; mostly out of necessity to survive as young parents. Lindsay had planned to study abroad after graduation and then eventually live in New York and attend graduate school but after Gus was born practicality set in. Teaching paid the bills and gave her time to be a mom.
Brian had, well he just planned to get rich doing what he did best, selling bullshit to the masses and watching them lick it up just because he told them they needed it. Now he was the poster child of "working for the man". There was always "one more big fish to catch" or "just finish this latest campaign" on his boss's lips whenever he broached the partnership agreement. Brian was growing increasingly frustrated with the constant tease and relentless ass-kissing that was required to stay in contention. He felt he had no choice but to play along; he couldn't afford to switch agencies now and start over. What he really wanted to do was strike out on his own but that dream, like most of Brian's dreams, seemed to be on life support.
In addition to the ego boost he needed from the promotion; Brian also honestly needed the money. His money worries weighed on him heavily since Lindsay was officially fired. In addition to losing the income, there were mounting legal bills and an extra teenage mouth to feed. Brian was adamant that they would manage alone; he was not about to seek a loan from his in-laws no matter how many times Lindsay brought it up. Before leaving work, Brian opened his office desk drawer where he had been stashing credit card statements to hide them from Lindsay and randomly selected two that would actually get paid this month. Glancing at his watch he groaned realizing it was after eight already. Lindsay would be pissed. Between the hours at the office and the money worries, Brian realized it had been months since he and Lindsay had made love. He couldn't even get it up much at night. He blamed the stress for his lack of libido but honestly he was plenty horny in the morning if his dreams included a certain blond and not the one who slept next to him. Brian rationalized that he was just hard up given the months of pent up frustration that any attention would of course turn him on. This morning though, he started stroking his cock during his shower and he came harder and faster thinking of Justin's mouth sucking him than he ever had thinking about Lindsay. He didn't want to consider what that might mean.
Brian rushed home to be sure to tell Gus goodnight before his bedtime. Once inside, he caught Lindsay's icy glare and racked his brain for what sin he was going to be verbally chastised for tonight. He passed by Justin's room on his way to say goodnight to Gus and stared for a second. He was sketching, looking intently at the page with the end of his pencil in his mouth. Man those lips!
"Daddy, you're home." Gus called sleepily from his bedroom jarring Justin from his pensive state.
Justin looked up and caught Brian's stare from the hallway. He smiled warmly and looked back down to hide his smirk. Brian entered Gus's room and Justin couldn't help but let a little laugh escape. Even through Justin had way cooled it with the flirtation since Lindsay's ousting; he loved catching Brian stealing looks at him, his confidence bolstered knowing that he could have Brian if he wanted to. He would love to make a move but he had already cost Lindsay her job; he wasn't about to steal her husband too. He resigned to just thoroughly enjoying Brian's building lust from a distance.
Brian passed by Justin's room on his way back downstairs intentionally avoiding eye contact. Justin again laughed but decided to join them; Brian had been working so hard he was rarely home in the evening and Justin had missed just hanging out together. When he was partially down the stairs he heard Lindsay laying into Brian over money. He didn't want to eavesdrop but he heard something about the car payment being late and calling her parents. Justin slowly backed up the stairs retreating to his bedroom to give them privacy. The fight escalated and as he sat on his bed, well Lindsay and Brian's bed, that they let him sleep on, Justin felt awful. He could hear them screaming at each other and Brian shouted something about Lindsay getting a damn job then he heard the front door slam. Justin would have started packing right then if he had somewhere to go. His guilt overwhelmed him; when he moved in he thought he would be helping them with Gus as payment for their generosity but since Lindsay wasn't working, Justin was a complete free-loader. He decided to tell them he would leave as soon as he could find somewhere else to go.
After Lindsay stormed out, Brian went upstairs to his bedroom desperate for a hot shower. He had never been so emotionally wrecked. He wondered if this is why his own father drank so much; was this what his life was like every day? No wonder he was so resentful of his wife and kids. Brian stripped off his clothes and ran the water. He grunted realizing he would have to fish Gus's multitude of bath toys out of the bottom of the tub before he could get in, knocking over a bottle of tear free shampoo in the process.
"Fuck, God Dammit" he groaned in frustration as he used a towel to soak up the oozing liquid from the tile floor. He finally climbed into the shower and let a meditative trance set in. How could this be his life? In less than six months he would be thirty years old and he had accomplished nothing he set out to do.
Brian tilted his head forward rinsing the shampoo out of his hair when he thought he heard his bedroom door creak. He opened his eyes just briefly but enough time for some shampoo to find it's way into his orbits. The immediate intense burning set in and Brian reached desperately out of the shower to grab a towel to wipe his eyes.
"Fuck" he exclaimed as he realized he used the towel to soak up the shampoo earlier. Unable to fully open his eyes, Brian stepped one foot out of the tub onto the tile to reach for the towels in the linen closet. His foot hit the tile still slick with Gus's baby shampoo and one foot left the ground before the other. Brian grasped at the smooth tile tub enclosure in vain as he fell ass first onto the hard porcelain tub, smacking his head soundly on the edge and pulling the shower curtain down in the process.
Justin had just knocked gently on Lindsay and Brian's door before he heard the water running. Figuring whoever hadn't run out of the house was in the shower, Justin headed back to his room when he heard the loud crash and bang coming from the bedroom. Instinctively, he opened the bedroom door and knocked firmly on the master bath.
"Are you okay?" Justin called out excitedly. When he received no answer after a second knock, he thought it prudent to open the door to check even if it meant risking seeing Brian, or worse, Lindsay naked. Justin gasped at the site. The shower water was running everywhere and Brian was slumped into the tub, one leg over the rim, the other twisted awkwardly behind him. He was passed out cold but Justin could see his head was bleeding slightly. There was some blood drops on the tub out of reach of the water spray. The shower curtain and rod were laying on the floor, draped just over the nearby toilet. Justin turned the water off and tried to shake Brian awake. He reached for a towel and covered him but not before allowing himself a few second peek. It was only fair; after all, Brian had seen his hard cock before he rationalized seeing Brian soft wasn't that big a deal. Brian finally responded to Justin's shaking, a little groggy at first, but then fully alert as the shooting pain from his leg catapulted him into a fully awake state. Fully awake and aware of just how much fucking pain he was in.
"Fuck, my leg" Brian shouted, feeling a wave of nausea shoot through him as he pushed Justin out of the way and vomited all over the floor. Justin took a better look at Brian's leg and could clearly appreciate that his lower leg had a broken bone.
"Oh my God" Justin panicked, "I'll call 911" he went in search of the cordless phone from the master bedroom.
"Justin" Brian called anxiously, "Come back here"
Justin returned holding the phone ready to push the final 1. "What?"
"Hang up the phone" Brian instructed "Help me out of the tub"
"I, um, I don't want to make it worse" Justin responded.
"I'm not going to sit here cold, wet and naked waiting for an ambulance. Help me up and let me dry off and get some sweatpants on at least" Brian grumbled. Fuck you Lindsay! Brian couldn't think very clearly but he was pretty sure this was Lindsay's fault somehow at least having to suffer this humiliation in front of Justin.
Justin tried to position himself to hoist Brian out of the tub without standing in the spot his vomit now occupied but it was not possible. He sighed and grabbed what looked like an older towel from the linen closet and mopped up the mess haphazardly trying to hide just how grossed out he was. Once he could position himself he hooked his arms under Brian's armpit and pulled upwards supporting as much weight as he could. Justin got a good look at Brian's naked body which shamefully caused his cock to stir. He suppressed a laugh as Brian cussed an epic string of profanity at the movement. Hearing the pain in Brian's voice, Justin was quickly refocused on the leg which dangled precariously from his knee. Brian steadied himself on the towel bar and on Justin's shoulder until the dizziness and nausea subsided enough that he could shift himself to sit on the toilet lid.
"Justin, hand me a towel please and in the bedroom, second drawer, some basketball shorts. I don't think I can get sweatpants on." Brian moaned in agony as he dried himself. Justin was too worried to take a look at Brian's naked body but when he returned to the bathroom and Brian was dry and calmer, he allowed himself a full body scan as he held open the shorts to slide up Brian's legs. Brian lifted his body up enough that Justin could maneuver the shorts over his ass and bring the waistband up to its proper position. Brian looked exhausted from the exercise but pleased he was presentable.
"Ok, now, hand me the phone" Brian instructed and held out his hand. He called 911 and asked for an ambulance calmly. "Justin, will you please call Lindsay and let her know what happened and stay here with Gus?"
"Of course" Justin agreed eager to help, "Can I do anything else?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, you can never tell anyone what just happened!" he smirked.
Justin sat with Brian trying to sooth him and crack jokes to distract him from the pain. The ambulance arrived and Justin sat with Gus to make sure he wasn't scared if he woke up and heard the commotion as the EMT's worked him slowly down the stairs, each movement marked by another colorful string of profanities.
Lindsay showed up just as they were loading Brian into the ambulance and followed them to the hospital.
Justin got Gus back to sleep and headed to bed himself. He was still wired from the adrenaline rush and couldn't calm down enough to sleep. He went into the bathroom and cleaned up the best he could, rehanging the shower rod and mopping the floor, taking the soiled towels to the laundry room. He was sitting on the couch sketching Brian's body from memory when they got back. Brian wobbled in on crutches muttering nonsense under his breath, a large cast covering his foot up to his knee. Justin noticed for the first time that Brian had broken his right leg which meant he wouldn't be able to drive for quite some time.
Lindsay helped Brian to the couch and sat exhausted next to him. "Justin, you didn't have to wait up" Lindsay insisted.
"That's okay, I couldn't sleep" Justin admitted "Gus went right back to sleep through"
Brian mumbled more nonsense for a minute before falling asleep and snoring loudly.
Lindsay laughed, "Painkillers, they gave him the good stuff! Will you grab the blanket from the hall closet and some pillows off of our bed. I think it's best if he sleeps down here tonight, it will be too hard to get him up the stairs without his cooperation."
I did as Lindsay requested and helped Lindsay get Brian into a more comfortable position, propping his leg up on a few pillows to elevate it and covering him with a blanket. His chest was still bare and Justin smiled as he noticed the slight stubble, it seems Brian did shave his chest after all.
"Lindsay" Justin asked quietly, "Do you guys need me to move out?"
"What? Why would you ask that?"
"I don't want to be a burden, you know, financially" he confesses "I sort of overheard you fighting earlier"
"Oh Justin! I'm sorry you heard that. We don't want you to move out sweetheart, if anything with Brian's leg, we need your help more than ever" Lindsay assured him.
"Ok, but I'm only staying if you really let me help. I can cook, clean, run errands, babysit…but please let me do something to earn my keep. I think I will look for a part time job as well. Michael mentioned the diner where his mom works might need a bus boy."
Lindsay nodded and kissed Justin on top of the head. She didn't say it but she really did need Justin. If it wasn't for him, Brian might have jumped off a building by now. As much as it pained her to admit, she noticed that only two things brought Brian any joy these days; Gus and Justin. Her picture perfect post card marriage was a farce, an illusion, and it was agonizingly hard to keep it up. They cared for each other, she knew that, but their relationship was about Gus, a shared history, and a powerful sense of obligation and not about love. Lindsay knew Brian would never leave her, not after his own childhood. He would never admit that he didn't love her, not like a husband should love his wife. He would go through everyday slowly dying inside until she let him go. All this time Lindsay thought she was doing what was best for Gus. But at the hospital with Brian under the influence of morphine, he finally said the words she needed to here. He finally said it out loud.
"Lindsay no more fighting sweetheart; I don't want to be my father" he whispered in her ear barely coherent, "Gus can't know I hate my life".
Lindsay lay back in their bed and cried as the realization consumed her. The best thing for Gus wasn't two miserable parents. He needed a happy father. A happy father meant she had to let him go.
