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Chapter Seven

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It is a rule of etiquitte – not gay etiquitte, but etiquitte in general – that one does not ask another individual how he or she acquired a deadly disease. To be fair, however, Hunter does have it too, so when he asks, "How?", it's not that he's being intrusive. Well, he is being intrusive… but not in an unjustified manner.

"Do I have to answer?" Justin asks nervously, looking from Hunter to Brian, the latter of whose perfect hazel eyes display something almost akin to concern. Justin's hands tremble.

Before Hunter can plead to hear more details, he sees Brian slowly shaking his head. Knowing that this means that he should stop talking immediately, Hunter clamps his jaw shut. "No," Brian responds, and is interrupted by the arrival of the pizza deliveryman at the door.

Justin's reaction is startling. Upon hearing the buzzzzz, he springs up and promptly bolts toward the back of the loft like a deer in the headlights. Then he freezes, as though suddenly aware of his surroundings, and slowly turns to see Brian and Hunter gaping at him. He flushes and quietly crosses back over to them. "Um," he whispers. Great. How the hell am I supposed to explain this one?

Brian sighs and shoves a handful of bills into Hunter's hands. "Get the door," he orders, and gestures to Justin. "C'mere," he says, leading the boy into his bedroom.

While Hunter goes to pay for the food, Brian and Justin ascend the stairs to Brian's bed, where Justin then stands awkwardly as Brian slides the panels shut, shutting them off from Hunter and the deliveryman.

"So," says Brian loudly, flopping down onto his bed. "What do you think of our little family so far?"

Justin is nervous; that much is obvious. "Um… they're nice," he says carefully. "I like Hunter. He's funny."

Brian snorts. "Yeah, he's a real barrel of laughs, all right. How 'bout Michael and Ben?"

"They're, um, they're very… generous," Justin stammers. "And accepting."

The older man smirks. He knows exactly what's going on. "You don't see how they can just welcome you into their house, do you? Into their life?"

Justin sighs, like he's just found out that someone knows what he's going through. And that's what's happening. "Yeah," he says eagerly. "It's like… I haven't done anything, you know? And all of a sudden they show up at the foster home and just accept me? They don't even know me."

Brian is tempted not to drop a sarcastic remark about them not being able to get to know him, but restrains himself. Instead, he says, "Maybe it's the other foster homes that have been doing something wrong by not accepting you. By making you a foster kid, we're saying welcome to the family. Jump right in."

"But…"

"But nothing. I know what they did to you in those other places. They beat you, right? And they raped you?" He doesn't wait for an answer. "Well, let me tell you one thing. You're not getting that here. Don't expect it. Don't be scared it's going to get dished out to you, because it's not. You're getting a loving family here. Granny Deb and your two dads and three uncles and two aunts and one brother and one niece and one nephew – oh, and Grandpa Carl. Horvath. Whatever. We're going to treat you like how we treat Hunter, okay? Like a kid. Who's growing up. Who's our responsibility. I've had my share of experience with shitty parents, and if you think you're going to get any of that, well, you're wrong. Not while I'm around. You got that?"

Justin steps back. He doesn't understand what Brian is saying. Strong, clearly a sexual being, and obviously gay, why isn't Brian launching onto Justin, taking advantage of him? Why is he standing there talking to him when he could be dishing out the abuse Justin is so used to?

It doesn't occur to him to listen to Brian's words. When you live in a world of lies, words are the last thing you believe. Better to judge them by their actions – by their lives.

"I said, do you understand?" Brian repeats. His eyes are cloudy, and all Justin sees in them – whether it's there or not – is lust.

And then he thinks he gets it.

"You want me all to yourself?" Justin tries tentatively, trying to make his voice a sexy murmur and failing miserably.

Brian raises two fingers to his temple, massages it for a moment, and sharply reaches out to snap the panels surrounding the platform of his bed back into place. They see Hunter standing there, munching contentedly on a slice of pizza.

"Hey, guys," Hunter says, his mouth full of cheese and crust and sauce. "You want?"

Justin glances at Brian, waiting for permission. When the brunette nods curtly, understanding Justin's request, the younger boy crosses the room, opening several cabinets at random before finding the plates, and sits down beside Hunter at the table. He scoops a slice of pizza onto his plate.

Hunter and Brian watch, intrigued by the dramatic tension surrounding Justin's first piece of pizza… ever.

Justin takes a bite, slowly chewing, and sits back in his seat.

"Well?" Hunter asks excitedly.

Justin's eyes flash. "Definitely an acquired taste, like coffee," he says, and Hunter has no earthly idea what he means by that, because coffee, in his opinion, is disgusting, while pizza is… pizza. "But it's good."

Brian gapes. "How old are you?" he murmurs disgustedly, and grabs a plate, tears a slice of pizza out of the pie, and takes a huge bite. "Be a kid, goddamnit."

The blonde laughs, and tentatively reaches for Hunter's soda. "Go right ahead," his foster brother says, and Justin takes a sip.

Brian snorts.

"What?" Justin asks hesitantly.

His guardian, if only for the moment, replies, "You put your mouth around that bottle like you're sucking cock."

"Uh," Justin interjects, though he really has no idea what to say. "Okay."

Hunter grins. "From Brian? That's the highest compliment you can get. Basically means he wants your mouth on his dick."

It's taking a risk, but Justin just laughs, assuming that his foster brother is joking. Hunter laughs with him, and before they know it, they're just three gay guys sitting at a table in a Pittsburgh loft, eating pizza and drinking diet soda and not having a clue what they're laughing about.