Brian didn't know what he would say to Mrs. Taylor when she stormed in, and he was sure she would. He sighed, threw himself onto his couch, and reached out for his tumbler of scotch. He drank it down in one gulp. He wasn't the type to lie, not for anyone's convenience, not even his own. He'd made exceptions for some people, often touting, "It's not lying if they make you lie." But he'd never applied that to himself before.

Of course, being forthright had only brought he and Justin trouble. Justin had been discriminated against by St. James Academy teachers and administrators, tormented mercilessly at school by other students, and nearly killed by Chris Hobbs, Brian had been attacked by Justin's father twice, and Justin's father had even hit Justin. If Brian told Justin's mother that he'd seen Justin that night, she'd move heaven and earth to keep them apart. In the end, she hadn't cared that Justin loved Brian, that Brian had never lied to her, or that Brian had been concerned with Justin's happiness and well-being when Justin's own father wasn't. She'd effectively erased Brian from Justin's life. She'd removed all physical evidence of his existence…every trace and cut everyone else out of the boy's life to make sure he never remembered Brian.

Just thinking about it infuriated him. He could understand her wanting him gone, but what she was willing to eliminate to make that a reality…Justin's art…Justin's friends…did she even know her son at all?

"Fuck that!" he thought. "She's playing dirty, claiming to do what she thinks is best for Justin, but not what he's told her he wants, what makes him happy. But I can play dirty, too. I gave dirty knew meaning."

He dressed quickly and poured himself another scotch, gulping the second as quickly as he had the first.

Just then, he heard pounding.

He walked over to the door, but didn't answer right away. He waited a couple of minutes and then slid it open. He feigned surprise, and, in a fake cheery tone, he greeted her. "Mrs. Taylor. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

She pushed past him and screeched, "Where is he? Where's my son?"

Brian sighed and replied, "Not here. You made sure of that."

She hissed as she walked around the loft frantically, "He was supposed to be with Daphne, but, according to her mother, he isn't there. So where is he?" She peered into the bathroom, and, not seeing him, she stomped back over to Brian.

She demanded, "Was he here?"

When he didn't respond, she added, "You owe me the truth."

He looked at her incredulously. He spat, "I owe you…what do I owe you for? What favor or kindness have you ever done me?"

Jennifer said nothing. She simply straightened her back and lifted her chin.

"You wanted to look around…you've seen that Justin's not here. Now, you can leave."

She huffed. "You know you're not good for him. This (she waved her arms)…all this…your world…is what got him hurt. What nearly killed him."

Brian flinched and looked down. He sighed. But then, he remembered the look in Justin's eyes as he approached him in the alley that night, as though drawn by some inner force, and the smiles…all the bright smiles Brian had inspired. His resolve stiffened; he looked back up, met her cold stare, and stated evenly, "I and my world are what made him happy. Love, art, his friends…that's who Justin is. You took all that from him, didn't you? I know you told everyone to steer clear. I'm guessing that you had to abscond with all his artwork, too, as that might have helped him remember."

Jennifer didn't say a word, but she looked down.

Brian continued, "He'll never know what he can achieve because his hand isn't 100%, and you hid all the proof. Is that your taking care of him? How can he fight to get back what he never knows he had? I may be the scum of the earth in your book, but, in the end, which of us truly has his well-being at heart?"

Jennifer looked back up and glared at him.

Brian slid the loft door open. Then he walked away, toward the bedroom. Jennifer stared after him in shock and outrage, but then scurried away, slamming the door closed.

***************

Justin picked up the phone and set it down. That was the fifth time he'd done that. He bit his lip and picked it up again. This time he started dialing one of the numbers on the card Brian had given him. He let it ring once and then slammed the phone down.

He swore, "Fuck!"

He cursed his cowardice. His heart was beating so fast. But it nearly leapt out of his chest when the phone rang. What the hell was he afraid of? It was probably just Daphne. In fact, this late, it couldn't be anyone else. He smiled and picked up the phone.

Without even saying hello, he asked, "Dying to hear all the juicy details?"

Justin nearly lost consciousness when he heard a warm sexy voice, a warm sexy male voice answer, "Yes, Kitten, I do. Were you stroking yourself as you imagined my warm wet mouth on your cock? Or were you fingering your hole as you remembered riding me?"

Justin was having trouble breathing, and he felt a little dizzy. He couldn't speak.

Brian drawled, "Kitten…"

Finally, Justin managed to reply, "Hi Brian. I'm sorry. I was expecting it to be Daphne."

"Are you disappointed?"

"No! No. Just surprised. How do you even have my number?"

"I have caller id."

Justin closed his eyes and let his head drop. He inwardly cursed himself.

"Oh…I…"

"You what, Kitten? Was your warm milk about to burn?"

Justin laughed. Then he decided to bite the bullet and be honest. "No. I was just a little nervous about calling so soon…but I wanted to find out how things went…did my mother show up?"

Brian asked carefully, "She didn't say anything to you?"

Justin replied, "No…she just said she was tired and went to bed. So what happened?"

Brian answered, "She did come. Lovely woman. Very polite. I let her look around, and she left when she didn't find you."

Justin breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm so glad nothing bad happened, that she was nice to you."

Brian laughed. "I'm a big boy, Justin. I think I could have handled her yelling at me."

Justin blushed a little and stammered, "Well…yeah, I mean, of course, you could. I just…I'm just glad everything worked out okay."

Brian drawled, "So, Kitten, are you looking forward to tomorrow evening?"

Justin smiled brightly. "Yes!"

A moment later, Justin looked up in alarm. "Oh wait, you never said when I should come by."

Brian replied, "Early. I want to have you to myself all night…no interruptions."

Justin giggled in excitement. "Sounds good to me. Umm…how about 6pm? Will you be done with work by then?"

Brian replied, "I certainly could be."

Justin suggested enthusiastically, "Okay. Let's meet at 6pm then."

Brian agreed, his voice low and husky with desire, "I can't wait, Kitten. Well, I'd better let you get your beauty sleep."

Justin whispered, "Okay. Later…"

Brian whispered back, "Later…"

Suddenly, Brian added, "Don't forget to dream about me, Kitten…" and then hung up.

Justin smiled brightly and giggled as he fell back onto the bed. He fell asleep hugging the card Brian had given him to his chest.

***************

Justin pushed Daphne into his room and quickly shut the door.

Daphne asked curiously, "So where's the fire? You said it was an emergency."

He whispered urgently, "It is! Brian asked me over tonight, and I have no idea what to wear."

Daphne laughed. "That's the emergency?"

Justin hissed, "Yes! I've been through my entire wardrobe! I have nothing to wear!"

She smiled. "You'll probably be naked the whole time…why does it matter?"

Justin pleaded, "Daphne…Be serious! Please!"

"Okay, okay. Calm down. We'll find something. Wait…"

Daphne looked at Justin curiously and asked, "He actually asked you to come over tonight?"

Justin's eyes widened. In a mock-hurt voice, he asked, "Why so surprised? Am I that much of a troll?"

Daphne reassured him, "Of course not! It's just…well, he doesn't look like the repeats type…"

Justin blushed and agreed softly, "Yeah. I know. He looks like a player, doesn't he? But he was so sweet. I told him I was a virgin, and he let me take the lead."

Daphne's eyes grew as wide as saucers. "He let you fuck him?"

Justin blushed and laughed, "No. No. I mean, I don't know if he would have let me. I didn't suggest it. I just meant that he…"

Justin's eyes lit up as he thought back. He continued in an even softer voice and looked off into space, "He reminded me that I'd told him that I wanted him, lay down on the bed naked, and said, 'Well, here I am. Do what you will.'" He giggled and looked down.

Daphne pushed him down on the bed and started poking him as she prodded, "So…what did you do? Did you suck on his ginormous cock? Or were you brave enough to brush yours against his lips and bat your eyelashes sweetly?"

Justin exclaimed, "Daphne!"

She continued, "Or did you wiggle your cute ass in his face, hoping he'd rim you and then fuck you senseless?"

Justin looked confused. He asked, "Rim me? What does that even mean?"

Daphne closed her eyes tight. She'd forgotten that he didn't know she'd spent the last year learning all about gay sex as Brian initiated him into the 'mysteries.'

Justin nudged her. He teased, "Daphne, have you been watching porn?"

Daphne opened her eyes and blushed a little. "Great," she thought, "Now, I have to pretend to have a porn fetish."

She took a deep breath and declared, "Yes. Well, I mean, I've been reading it. Online. I hated being a naïve virgin."

Justin nodded his head slowly. "Oh…wow. So what is rimming?"

Daphne laughed softly and blushed even more deeply. "Uh…it's where one person…"

She looked down. She just couldn't explain this with him staring at her. She continued, "Where one person licks another person's crack…hence the name. Well, and other nearby areas…even sometimes pushing his or her tongue inside…"

Justin's eyes widened. "Oh God! I don't think I could ever ask him to do that to me!"

He paused, his eyes losing focus. A couple minutes later, he asked shyly, his voice a near whisper, "Do you think he would like me to do that to him?"

Daphne laughed and replied, "I'm betting he would. So…what did you two end up doing?"

Justin blushed a deep crimson and answered shyly, "Uh…well, we kissed for a long time…and I put his hand on my, well, you know. He, uh, started jerking me off, but, at the end, he put it in his mouth…It was incredible."

Astonished, Daphne asked, "You were alone with a naked hottie…no, a naked Adonis…and you only kissed and let him jerk you off? You might as well have been with someone from school!"

Justin huffed. "That wasn't all we did. And no it could not have been someone from school. The way he kisses…that alone gets me so close. Fucking amazing!"

Daphne teased, "Ooo…so what else?"

Justin shook his head. "You'll never believe it. I did it, and even I'm having trouble believing it…"

Daphne ran over and started tickling him. "Tell me, tell me…."

In between giggles, he sputtered, "I…I actually…actually…rode him."

That got her attention. She stopped her assault and gaped at him. "You did that for your first time?"

Justin nodded, still a bright red.

She exclaimed, "Wow! You go!"

He shook his head. "I made him close his eyes for a while though…I knew I couldn't do it otherwise…"

Daphne laughed. "You are a complete dork!"

Suddenly, Justin's eyes widened, a look of horror on his face. "Fuck! It's already 5pm, and we haven't found anything for me to wear!"

***************

Daphne and Justin had eventually decided on tight black jeans and a bright red velour pullover…with a v-neck and long sleeves. Justin was so nervous. Daphne had dropped him off and promised to stay at a friend's house so that Justin's mom couldn't get ahold of her. Justin had managed to convince his mom that Daphne's mom had simply not known he was there, and he told her that he and Daphne were going to visit a friend of Daphne's who was already in college. She was so excited at the prospect of him meeting more people his own age, she hoped a nice girl, that Justin had to laugh. If she only knew that he was about to meet an older man, a man who was probably going to fuck Justin senseless (Justin hoped many, many times)…He trembled at the thought. He pulled the backpack strap tighter on his shoulder, took a deep breath, and pressed the buzzer.