A/N: Hi! I'm really sorry about the wait. My life got super crazy. Anyway, I felt a little inspired today so I cranked out another chapter. Thanks for sticking with this, and if you have some free time, you should read my OTHER QAF story. It's called a simple conversation and it's basically what I think Brian would've told Ethan had he had the chance and opportunity. (In my opinion they really didn't do enough with that whole Ethan thing. I dislike Ethan like every other Brian/Justin fan, but, I still think it was a cool idea and they could've played around with/used it more. Anywayyy, enjoy the chapter! And please review! They make me smile.

Disclaimer: Don't own Queer as Folk. But it'd be cool if i did.

J.R. collapsed onto her bed listening to the voices of her parents. Back and forth. They were like barking dogs.

Sometimes she had trouble understanding why they were even friends. They clashed about almost everything.

But then again, Melanie clashed with everyone. She was strong-willed that way, something she'd passed onto her daughter in a smaller dose. The voices got louder until finally another one joined them. She recognized it as Ben's. Ben was always the one to step in and break up their little fights. J.R. was just glad that the screaming match was over.

She listened for awhile longer and then she heard the sound of heels walking across the hardwood floor and then the slam of the front door. So her mother actually did leave. Good. She wasn't sure how she felt about anything anymore. She just knew that she was angry. But who was she supposed to direct the anger towards? Her mother, who'd lied to her and kept her sheltered her entire life? Or her father who had the option to tell his daughter everything, but chose not to? Or could she blame Lindsey, a person she really didn't even know, but had abandoned her before she'd even learned to talk?

She reached down and pulled the blanket up over her head and rolled over onto her side. A nap was definitely in order. Maybe she could sleep her headache away.

She awoke, several hours later, although it felt like only minutes, to a knock on her bedroom door.

"J.R.? Brian and Justin are here. They brought your cell phone over." Michael called through the door.

J.R. sat up quickly, pushing the blanket off and jumping out of bed, running her fingers through her hair, hoping that she didn't look too awful.

"Thanks. I'll be out in a minute!" she called. She did a quick glance in the mirror.

Not too bad. She looked a little tired and shabby but who could blame her, really?

She pulled open her bedroom door and found Michael still standing there, a worried expression on his face.

"Hi." She said softly with a little half-smile.

"Are you okay honey bun?" He asked her, and it was completely genuine.

J.R. blushed. She couldn't help it. He reserved the use of that nickname for when he was either feeling really guilty or sentimental and nostalgic. It was her childhood nickname.

"Dad." She said in exasperated tone. "That's embarrassing. Don't call me that."

"I'm your dad. I'm supposed to embarrass you. And I figure you can't be mad at me if you remember that you're my honeybun."

She smiled a little. "I'm not mad at you. Not really. I slept. I feel a little better about everything."

He nodded, and then patted her cheek a little. "Justin's in the living room with your cell phone. Do me a favor though? Call your mother when you get it back. She's ready to hop the next plane back to Toronto and drag you with her but…." He shrugged a little. "I'm not ready for you to leave."

Jenny smiled, looking at the ground for a moment or two and then she wrapped her arms around him squeezing him tightly.

"I should've come to stay with you before now, I'm sorry that I didn't. I love you. You're the best dad a girl can ask for. " She whispered before pulling back and moving towards the living room.

Brian and Justin were sitting on the couch, Brian sprawled out like it was his own house, and lazily flipping through channels on the television. Justin stared at him with a look that was a mix between annoyance and fondness.

"100 channels? They only get 100 channels, Justin. What the fuck are they spending money on?" Brian asked, looking up at Justin who still looked annoyed.

"They have children, Brian. Maybe they'd like to clothe and feed J.R. rather than get HBO."

"Hi." J.R. giggled a little as she saw the pair of them, and Justin was the only one that actually looked up at her when she spoke.

"Hey." He said flashing her a smile and standing up. "I have two things for you." He reached into his pocket, pulling her cell phone out to her. "Here's your cell phone."

She took it from him and pocketed it and then he held out a little square piece of paper towards her. "And then I have this for you." He shook the paper at her and she took it, reading it over.

Your presence is requested at Beckerman hall on Friday evening

At 8:00 PM to celebrate Mr. Justin Taylor's artwork.

Pieces will be sold at the event. Prices to be inquired about with Mr. Justin Taylor.

J.R. looked up at him with a smile. "You're having an art show? That's so cool."

Justin shrugged, and then smiled. "It's just a part of being an artist. When you need a little bit of cash, have an art show." He nodded his head a little towards her. "You're missing something. Turn it over."

J.R. raised a brow at him, looking a little confused for a moment, but then she turned the little paper over. There in black sharpie that she was sure Justin had added in later were the words:

This invitation grants the invitee one free art piece from the shoe.

J.R. smiled a little and looked back at him. "Justin…you don't have to do that. I'll come anyway…your work is amazing." She said trying to hand the piece of paper back to him, but he pushed her hand away.

"Thanks." He said with a little smile. "But I want you to have it. Pick something. Seriously, anything you want. Having some new art around always makes me…realize that there's a bright side. I want make sure that happens for you."

She folded the piece of paper, before stuffing it in her pocket, and giving him a half smile. "Thank you…"

"You're welcome." His smile increased then, if that were even possible, and he reached out a hand out her shoulder for a few minutes before letting it drop and taking a step back to towards his jacket.

"Well, Brian and I should get going…." He said as he threw his jacket around his shoulders and then pushed his arms through. He turned his head a little bit to face Brian.

"Are you ready to go?"

Brian looked up at him raising a brow, and then he held up the remote. "I'm watching T.V." He said like it was obvious that he was busy and wouldn't be leaving anytime soon.

"Brian…" He said in a soft voice. "Were going by the diner remember? To talk to Gus?"

Brian rolled his eyes and then shrugged. "This is much more important. I'm watching the weather channel." He shook his head looking up at Justin. "They shell out cash for the weather channel, but shun HBO?"

"The weather channel is practical." J.R. cut in, and Brian turned his eyes on her for the first time since she'd entered the room. J.R. could feel the cold emanating from him and for the first time, J.R. realized that Brian didn't like her very much.

"Practical?" He said the word like it was the dumbest thing anybody could've said. J.R. felt quite suddenly nervous and shy.

"Um…yeah. That's what dad always says…that's why we have it. Um…because knowing the weather is important." She finished, knowing how incredibly lame she sounded.

"Hm. " was the only sound that escaped Brian's mouth as he stared at J.R.

It was silent for what felt like a whole minute, but was probably only seconds, before Justin spoke.

"Brian?" He asked, shaking his head just a little. "We have to go see Gus."

Brian pulled his gaze away from J.R. to look over at Justin, his expression softening.

"Yes, let's go talk to my sonny boy." He said turning off the Television and standing up.

"We can listen to him bitch some more about what an awful father I am and how much he hates me. Little prick. " He grabbed his jacket already heading towards the door.

"He doesn't hate you!" Justin called after him, but Brian was already out the door. He rolled his eyes a little before turning back to Jenny.

"I'll see you later." He mumbled, turning to follow Brian. J.R. touched his arm to stop him.

"Hey Justin? Could you tell Gus something for me?" She asked in a small voice, biting down on her lip.

"Sure." He said with a little nod.

"Could you just tell him…that I'm here if he wants to talk? And to call me?"

Justin nodded. "Sure I will. Bye J.R." He said, flashing her a smile before following Brian's path out the door.

She watched him leave, shutting the door softly behind him, and then she turned towards the kitchen. Michael and Ben were letting the spaghetti sauce burn in favor of kissing each other. J.R. slipped into a chair at the table, watching them with a disgusted expression for a few minutes.

"Gross." She said shaking her head and sticking her tongue out a little. It was then that Ben realized she was in the room and pulled away.

"Oh..hey there, J.R., you get your cell phone?" He asked awkwardly, wiping the corner of his mouth before turning back around to stir the sauce and Michael started moving around the kitchen to set the table, a blush coloring his cheeks.

J.R. reached into her pocket taking out her cell phone, waving it for Ben to see.

"Yup. I'm sort of glad Justin found it. I think Brian would've smashed it." Ben turned around a little to look at her, raising a brow.

"Why would Brian smash your cell phone?"

J.R. shrugged a little, sighing. "I don't think he likes me very much. I don't really know why."

Michael laughed a little, setting her plate down in front of her. "Brian Kinney doesn't really like anyone." He paused, to kiss the top of her head, before moving back towards the cabinets to grab utensils.

"I guess so. I just sort of think…he thinks I'm bad for Gus or something." She kept her eyes on her empty plate unsure of how this topic would go over with the pair of them.

"You are bad for Gus." Michael said quickly. "You two shouldn't be together. You know that."

"I don't know that. I just know that everyone keeps telling me that." She pointed out, still refusing to look up.

Michael turned around to face her, a handful of forks in his hand. "You're not seeing him J.R. That's final. He's your brother. And this has to end. Do you understand me? I don't want you to talk to him, see him, call him. Anything."

J.R. stared at him open-mouthed for a few minutes, she was formulating just the right thing to say when Ben cut in.

"Don't you think that's a little harsh Michael?"

He blew out a breath through his nose, slamming the forks down on the counter. "No. I'm not being harsh at all! You know how unstable Gus is to begin with-!"

"Dad!" J.R. yelled, standing up from the table. She paused for a moment, and then shook her head a little. "Okay. I get it. I'll leave him alone."

Ben and Michael both looked at her with matching confused expressions.

She shrugged. "I'm just sick of hearing about what I can and can't do. I wasn't here to find love anyway. Or my long lost brother, or my other mother…or…anything I…came here to see what living with you would be like." She shrugged a little. "So I'll just focus on that. I'm sorry, I should've been focusing on that since the beginning."

She smiled a little, before sitting back down, staring at her empty plate. After a few minutes, she looked up at Ben. "Is dinner ready?"

Ben blinked at her and then he nodded slowly. "Yeah. Yes. Of course." He touched Michael's shoulder and he took a seat across from his daughter as Ben began scooping out spaghetti onto their plates.

Dinner passed quickly. No one spoke. There was nothing to talk about. Which was an interesting way to see Michael. He almost always had something to say. Once she'd finished at least half of her spaghetti(because she knew Ben wouldn't let her leave the table if she hadn't eaten most of it), she asked to be excused.

"Call your mom!" Michael called after her, as she made her way to her bedroom. She collapsed onto her bed, flipping her phone open as she did. When she opened it to no new text messages and no new calls it sort made her stomach drop. She hadn't realized that she'd been expecting there to be something from Gus. She titled her head a little into the pillow, wondering if she could even stick to what she'd told her father. She at least would have to talk to Gus one last time to tell him it was done. She looked down at her phone again, just to make sure there was nothing for him, and she wasn't surprised when there wasn't.

She let out a sigh and then punched in her mom's number, pressing the phone to her ear.

"Hello?" Melanie was using her upset voice, the one that J.R. had learned to associate with bad moods.

She rolled her eyes and then let out a little sigh. "Hi mom."

"Oh, I'm mom now?"

"Mommy, don't do this." She said in a stressed voice. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I got so mad, but you can't act like you didn't do anything wrong either."

"I was protecting you."

"No. You were sheltering me. What did you think meeting this people would do to me, mother? They're family."

Melanie scoffed and J.R. could practically feel her roll her eyes.

"That so-called family turned the back on you years ago."

J.R. paused for a moment shifting the phone. "No. I think you turned your back on them. They still love you…They love ME."

"I know what this is. You've decided living with your father is new and fun and exciting and that's what you want to do now. He's who you want to be with, with all of his 'cool' friends-"

"That's not it at ALL. I love being with you, you're my MOM! And I love being with dad, I've always loved being with you both equally! So please, get OVER this obsessive compulsive competitive thing you have going with daddy! I love you. And I love him."

"And Lindsey?" Melanie said the name like it was poison.

J.R. was silent for a long moment and then she let out a breath. "I don't know Lindsey. I've barely said two words to her."

Melanie was silent and J.R. thought she knew part of what was going on now.

"Mom…if you think I'm going to love Lindsey more than I love you…that's ridiculous. You're my mom. Not only that…but you're my mommy. You're the one who bandaged my scrapped knees and kissed my bruises better, and helped me with my homework and held me when I had nightmares. Lindsey Peterson wasn't there for any of that. I love you. I will always love you."

"I know that, J.R., I love you too." Melanie said in a soft voice.

"Then you should come with me to Justin's show." She threw in, hoping that it would work.

Melanie sighed, "Jenny, I don't know-"

"Please? For me? It's just an art show, Mom. And…art's the thing I share with you. So I want to go with you. Justin's giving me a free piece and everything. Please?"

"When is it?"

"Friday."

"Friday it is then."

"Thanks mommy. I love you."

"I love you too, Kid."

There was a click, and J.R. hung up the phone quickly, changing into her pajama pants and sliding into bed. She left her phone on the highest ring, just in case. She wouldn't admit it was in case Gus called. It was, just in case.

The next week passed all in a blur. She ended up spending her day's helping out in her dad's store, and sometimes Ben would let her sit in on one of his lectures. Needless to say, she'd almost filled up her entire sketchbook. But she really did like living in Pittsburgh, living with her dad. It was nice, and there was no stress, and she fit into the Novotny-Bruckner family almost as well as she fit in with her mother. Melanie was practically seething about the fact that she liked it in Pittsburgh so much, but she wouldn't say anything. They were doing a little better, and J.R. phoned her nightly now, but she was still upset that she'd lied to her. There was just one thing though, about the whole week that was driving her crazy. Gus hadn't called. And the one time she'd seen him at the diner, he'd completely avoided her, he wouldn't even look her in the eyes when he brought her food. She began to measure the days by him not calling.

Monday. Got to use the cash register at the comic book store. No call.

Tuesday sat through three of Ben's lectures. No Call.

Wednesday. Had dinner at the diner. Seven avoided opportunity's to talk. One eye aversion. No call.

Thursday. Went over to Brian and Justin's for an art tutorial with Justin. No call.

Friday morning. Ate Breakfast with Ben and Dad at the diner. Still no call.

It was agonizing. Why wasn't he calling? And why did everything feel so different and wrong without him? It made her stomach turn.

"Do you want to come to my lecture this morning? Were talking about Ancient Greece." Ben's voice melted into her thoughts and then she jumped a little. Were they still at the diner? She glanced down at her half-eaten pancakes. Apparently so.

"Oh. Sure. Yeah." She said distractedly, her eyes moving over to the counter, searching for Gus. Michael's eyes followed her.
"He's not in yet. " he said softly. "His shift starts a little later than usual today." He sounded apologetic. It made J.R. feel stupid for caring.

"Oh." She said in a small voice. "Well that's nice…" Brian and Ben exchanged a look and it made J.R. feel even more stupid. Why did parents always have to make everything worse?

"If you don't want to go to Ben's lecture, you can hang out with me at the store for a bit. I just got a shipment in of a brand new comic book. We've got a ton of inventory to do. You can read while you stock." He smiled at her.

J.R. shrugged a little. "Actually, I was wondering if I could just sort of hang out today. Maybe with Hunter and Jade."

Michael blinked at her. "You hate Jade."

"Well…yeah…She's a bitch. But I like Hunter." She said with a shrug.

Michael let out a little sigh and then shook his head. "Hunter's working."

"Well I don't need a baby-sitter. I'm sixteen." She let out a frustrated breath, rolling her eyes. "But fine, I'll go to Ben's stupid lec-" but she cut off midsentence.

Gus had walked in just then, grabbing his apron from the hook on the counter, and putting it on. He looked up at her for a half a second, and then just as quickly turned away from her, trying to look busy by wiping down the counter. J.R. tried to hold in the tears that had chosen now to pool in her eyes. She let out a breath and then pulled out her sketch book, drawing dark thick lines of nothing. It made her feel good to press hard against the white paper, and to just draw. The tears in her eyes were turning to angry hot tears rather than sad cold ones. And sooner rather than later they were falling on the page, ruining her picture, that wasn't really a picture at all.

"Hey, Hey, Hey." Ben said putting an arm around her. "Hey. It's okay. Relax. Take a deep breath." She turned her face into Ben's side, taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself. It took a few minutes, but eventually she'd calmed herself down enough to stop the rapid tear flow. She pulled back from Ben sucking in a breath.

"Sorry. Thank you. I guess I'm just not having a great morning." She sniffed.

"That's okay." Ben said with a little reassuring smile.

She looked up at her dad. "Do I look okay? Not all read and puffy and cry-y?" She said in a little voice.

Michael shook his head. "No. You look great Honey bun."

She rolled her eyes sniffing, and she would've been fine, if Gus hadn't chosen that moment to come over to their table to ask if they needed anything.

"Uh…nope. I'm good." Ben said, and then looked over at Michael.

"I'm…just fine." He said, but there was a little bitterness to his voice, before he asked. " How about you, J.R.? Do you need anything honeybun?"

J.R. looked up then, her eyes on Gus, but his eyes were on the wall behind her. Anger built up inside of her like a volcano and soon she was erupting.

"Yeah. I do need something." She said through her teeth. "I want to know why the FUCK you're not talking to me."

Gus looked up at her then, eyes wide. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me, asshole. Why the fuck aren't you talking to me? You're avoiding me."

Gus, rolled his eyes and then an arrogant little smirk over took his face. "Why would I need to talk to you?"

J.R. shook her head a little, and then looked down at the table. "You said this wouldn't happen." She said in a soft voice.

Gus laughed, rolling his eyes again. "Well, I guess I lied. Anything else you need? Preferably something that has to do with my Job and not whatever is personally bothering you."

"You take my virginity and then you go all asshole on me? Sorry but this is all just a little too Gossip Girl for me. What the hell happened to you?" She shook her head again. "Fuck you, Gus." She said pushing herself out of the diner seat, and practically running for the door.

Michael watched her leave and then turned back to Ben and Gus.

"Did she just say virginity? You had SEX with my daughter!" Michael looked as if he might explode.

Ben placed a hand on top of Michael's to calm him down. "Michael, relax. That's not what's important right now. We need to take care of J.R."

Gus sighed, "I have work to do." He said in an annoyed sounding voice before going back behind the counter.

"That little shit!" Michael exclaimed moving out of the booth as Ben followed him.

"I know. I know…but that's not what's important right now. There's a sixteen year old girl outside who just got her heart-broken…that's important."

Michael shook his head. "You go after her. Take her to your lecture. I'm calling Brian and were going to sit down and have a talk with that little shit who calls himself part of the family."

Ben sighed, "Alright, but calm down first." He pressed a kiss to his forehead. "I'll see you at home."

Michael nodded. "Yeah, don't forget Justin's art show tonight and then we're all going to Lindsey's for dinner."

"It's already in my palm pilot." He said with a little smile rubbing his arm, before jogging after J.R.