[Gob offers literary criticism, and Michael runs into old acquaintances. It's looking more like the story will be around 45 chapters total.]

Gob knew that he shouldn't email Michael, but he was growing concerned, so instead he emailed George Michael in Spain. "Tell me that Michael or your mom never read you Peter Pan when you were a kid."

George Michael was not sure what prompted this message out of the blue. It did seem to indicate that Gob was not angry or shunning him, though. He replied in confusion, "What? No, I don't remember if they did, Uncle Gob. Maybe I saw the movie once."

Gob wrote back, "Good. Never read that book, George Michael. It will seriously warp you."

George Michael did not reply to Gob this time. He quoted the nonsensical messages to his father, then added a large number of question marks and a comment. "What the hell, Dad? Was this what you and Uncle Gob were fighting about?" It seemed crazy to quit the family again over a book.

When Michael read the message, he replied to George Michael, "Ignore him. He's on drugs."

Then he opened a message to Gob, saying, "What the fuck is wrong with you? Why are you bugging my son about Peter Pan?"

Gob debated for a moment whether to answer, given Pete's instructions to not contact Michael, but then he finally wrote a message summarizing his thoughts about the J. M. Barrie novel and the author's own fucked up life. He included quotations from the book as necessary, then he sent it to Michael, hoping that this would help him understand that their sexual relationship was all make-believe.

Michael read the message in disbelief and also fury. Then he replied, "If this is the kind of nonsense that your therapist is telling you, then you should fire him or her. They sound as incompetent as Tobias."

He added another paragraph. "So you seriously think that I got brainwashed by that book into loving you? Gob, I haven't thought about that book in years, and I liked the high school play better for having lawyers in it. As for George Michael, I doubt if the Peter Pan book could ever be as traumatizing to him as that time that he watched the prison drama Oz thinking that it was the Wizard of Oz." Tracey had to hold George Michael and comfort him for many nights afterward, until he could sleep again. "Besides, millions of kids must have read that book over the years and never grew up to have sex with their family."

Gob replied, "I know that, but those millions of kids aren't Bluths. We're crazy and fucked up to begin with, and I know you started blocking things out after I read you the book. Did you ever read it again to yourself? Maybe this is what made us worse, what made you come onto Lindsay and then keep sleeping in my bed even when I tried to get you to stop. That book got into our brains and fucked us up too."

"No," Michael disagreed in his next message, which was very short. "Our parents fucked us up, and we only had each other. We loved each other. Why don't you love me anymore?"

Gob sighed, and considered not replying. Pete had told him not to contact Michael, after all. So he left it for a few hours while he spent time with the entourage.

When he next returned to the email account, he was surprised to find two messages from Michael. He worried that Michael might be getting drunk and crazy again, like in his repeated voicemails.

Gob opened the first one cautiously, and read, "You don't know everything. You're wrong about me. I am bisexual. Pete the mailman believes me. He's my friend now." Oh right, Michael didn't know that Pete had contacted Gob.

Michael went on, "For the last time, I wasn't coming onto Lindsay when we were kids. I was being nice to her like you were to me. Also, for your information, I already told Lindsay about us years ago, a month after the Queen Mary. You talk to her, if you don't believe me. I told her that I loved you, and she knew I wasn't lying. Tracey was the one telling me that my feelings weren't real, and that I was just confused and obsessed about you after you disappeared from the apartment. She told me that it was just a crush, and I had to agree with her so that she wouldn't leave with George Michael. I went along with Tracey, not you, Gob. She was too normal to understand me. But you did. That's why I loved you. How can you keep calling me a robot, like I never got better? I was only ever human when I was with you."

Gob was shocked to realize that Lindsay knew about him and Michael, and yet she didn't look at Gob judgmentally at the family meeting at the penthouse. She didn't even make a snide remark about how Michael kept sitting on the arm of the sofa to be near Gob, when there was plenty of room on the piano bench nearby. Gob wanted to talk to her about Michael, but he was still too cowardly to visit Mom in prison and ask her where Lindsay was.

Then Gob read the next paragraph from Michael, "How dare you tell me how I feel! If you don't love me anymore, then fine, but don't pretend that I was faking it all along. It wasn't an illusion. It wasn't a lie. It was real for me, and I loved you. Whenever you weren't around, it was like a huge piece of me was missing."

Gob felt sad and guilty as he opened the next message, sent a few minutes after the first one. Michael wrote, "You're the one who fucking taught me about safe words! That I should speak up whenever I felt uncomfortable during sex. Don't you remember? I did use them sometimes, and I always said no about the threesome too. So I knew how to say no to you, Gob. I would have stopped you if I didn't want to have sex. Maybe you have sex with people that you find repulsive, like Kitty, but I don't. I really wanted you, all the time. When we kissed, I loved the way you tasted. I loved to see you naked and touch you. It was hot, getting closer than we'd ever been before, and the orgasms were better than with a lot of women that I was awkward with. I kept leaving my shirt on with women, you know? But with you, everything felt easy and natural, and I liked it when you counted my freckles. In bed, we could be real and make up for any fights we had. When we fucked, I would pretend that we were still on that yacht together, and that we were doing it on my birthday like we should have done. It made me wish that we had been together years ago, before Tracey, or that I never shunned you. I wished that my marriage was different, and that I had just told Tracey the truth. I was going to lose her anyway, so why not be honest and happy? When you sang songs to me, Gob, it felt like we belonged together, that you would love me forever and no one could take you away from me."

Gob got uncomfortable to be reminded of having sex, but he sighed and thought over what he could recall of Michael saying no to him sometimes during sex. After all, he had nagged Gob to drive the limo back to Sudden Valley instead of having sex in the parking lot. There had been similar incidents on other occasions. Maybe Gob hadn't brainwashed him that much.

Gob tried to hope for the best, and he finally replied, "I'm sorry, Michael. I guess it does make me feel better if you really are bisexual and weren't faking the sex. But the sex was still wrong, you know? We're brothers, not just two guys. And I don't think Tracey would have been okay with us, no matter what. I actually do remember that night I was drugged in the hospital. I asked her for a threesome with you, and she refused even before I said that I wanted you. So if you had suggested anything like that, she would have got angry and left." Or been horrified and disgusted. But maybe Tracey should have left after all. She should have saved George Michael from the family and taken him somewhere else, far away.

When Michael read Gob's response, he became upset about being lied to again. "How many times have you fucking lied to me? What else did you say that night?" He ached to know.

Gob was uncomfortable with the memory. "I said how I wanted to taste you and count your freckles. Stuff like that. I thought I was talking to Nellie the whore for a moment. By the way, Nellie probably would have agreed to a threesome with you, because she liked how you looked like her, and it would be like making love to herself, she said. That time you hired her at the Bluth Company, she let me and Franklin sit in her hotel room to watch, when you came over that night. But you had to ruin it with your dumb idea that she was our sister." Also Michael was just in general opposed to hookers and threesomes.

Michael was disappointed that Gob apparently didn't say "love" at any point while he was drugged at the hospital. Then why did Tracey have to imply it? He wrote back to Gob, "Wait, you told Nellie about us?"

"I told her years ago, before there was an us. When it was only me having weird feelings. The first time I met her, I tried to sleep with her because she looked like you, but I just ended up crying instead. She talked me into being her pimp, and over the years, I would talk to her, so I could stay in control and not come onto you when you were married."

"So you had a friend all along. Why didn't you say so, Gob? Were you just ashamed that she was a hooker?"

"No, she wasn't really my friend, Michael. I was just her pimp, and after I forgot where I left Franklin, she had to get somebody new, and she wouldn't let me have free crying sessions with her anymore. The entourage are my real friends. I'm glad you have a friend now too, Michael; even if normal people can't completely understand us, it helps to not feel alone."

"Why would Nellie have to get somebody new? You could still do the voice on the phone."

"It's not the same without Franklin."

Michael didn't understand that, but he asked, "So, did you tell Nellie after we started having sex?"

Gob replied, "I thought about it, but it was something special between us, and Nellie wasn't really my friend. Besides, I was seeing Egg and her chaperoning friends then. One of them was a redhead and reminded me of Tracey. She slapped just like her too, so it made me feel guilty about whether to get back together with you."

"You mean we could have been together then? If I just hadn't said that garbage about the sign from God?"

Gob said, "Let it go, Michael. It's not worth it. I'm sorry that I made you fall in love with me, and I want you to get better now. Do you still have the number for the Hot Cops? They're nice guys, and they could introduce you to gay bars and stuff. Maybe you would have better luck this time if somebody helped you. Just be happy, you know."

Michael got annoyed again, especially at that phrase. He replied with bravado, "I don't need your help, Gob. I've got Pete. Stop emailing me, or bugging George Michael. Why don't you talk to your own son?" That was the last message he sent Gob for months.

Michael wasn't sure whether to tell Pete that he had emailed Gob, but he told him how his job search was going: just as badly as in Malibu. The only good news in his life lately was that he didn't have syphilis or anything else new. The doctor gave him a new prescription for the herpes, and Michael filled it.

He was eating more and drinking less lately. He sometimes used his bicycle instead of driving the car, since it saved on gas money, and the exercise was good for him. In Sudden Valley, Michael still couldn't pick up any TV signals by antenna or cable, but he could watch videotapes and DVDs, so he started renting stuff so he would have background noise in the house and not be alone with his thoughts so much. He even rented a Straight Bait porn once, but found that it stirred up memories of being with Gob, so he rented other gay porn instead, and that was better, though he still felt alone.

At night, he did sometimes listen to the Franklin CD while in bed, but it made him too sad and lonely. Finally Michael decided to return it to the model home attic. He didn't want to throw it away for good, in case he ever wanted it again. Michael still half hoped that someday Gob might come back to him. Maybe he could love Michael again after some therapy helped him to not be in denial about being gay. Maybe this was just another temporary breakup in their tumultuous relationship.

Meanwhile, Pete invited Michael out for bowling with his friends, and Michael tried it, but he didn't feel like talking to the other people much. He and Pete didn't meet every night anymore, though they did talk a lot by phone, or whenever Pete delivered mail. Many times they talked about just TV shows or Pete's life, instead of heavier subjects. Sometimes Michael would make food for Pete and put it in a tupperware thing to take home, and sometimes they would actually have dinner together. Sometimes they went to the beach on the weekends.

When Michael felt ready to date, Pete took him out to a singles bar to try to teach him how to flirt with women. Michael was still awkward, and Pete started talking about his ex-wife and his own attempts to date again. So they commiserated about romantic woes, and Michael said that he was actually curious about trying to date a man this time. Pete didn't know how to help with that, and he worried that Michael might be trying to make Gob jealous.

Michael said that he knew about one gay nightclub that Tobias used to own. He'd been there once with Lucille 2, who liked hanging out with gay men. It might be because of her brother Argyle, with whom she used to perform in musical theater. The club had been empty, though, and Lucille Austero was too dizzy from Michael's car ride to stay long.

Pete agreed to come with Michael to the nightclub for moral support, even if he didn't know anything about gay flirting. Pete wanted to make sure that Michael didn't drink too much or get in over his head with some strange guy. Maybe they would even run into Lucille 2 there, and she could offer advice, with how much she knew about gay men.

So one night, Michael and Pete went to the Tobias is Queen Mary nightclub, which still had not changed its name under the new owner. The neighborhood had improved, and Michael felt safe leaving his Camaro parked outside. Getting a table, they ordered drinks and sat together, while they discussed Michael's plan of action.

Finally Michael mustered up his courage and left to mingle among the crowd. Pete stayed at the table to watch their drinks, and to observe Michael's attempts.

Michael was still awkward chatting with the strangers, who were enjoying the music and dancing in various pairings and groups. Michael didn't really know how to dance like that, and he felt that he had not dressed appropriately. Then Michael recognized the Hot Cops hanging out, and they knew him as Gob's brother, so they waved at him. Michael was curious, and he wondered if they thought Gob was gay too, so he came closer.

Bix smiled and asked how Gob was. "We haven't seen him since the Queen Mary." The Hot Cops had come as Hot Sailors, and Lucille had tried to blame the hijacking on them.

Michael said, "He's in Malibu, living with Mark Cherry, the singer."

"Wow." They were all impressed and surprised.

Kenny said, "I thought Mark Cherry wasn't gay."

"No, uh, Gob's part of the entourage. They're not dating." Then Michael said, "So you guys think that Gob's gay, too, huh?"

Chet shrugged. "Well, maybe he's bi, but I never liked the women he was with."

Mike (the Hot Cop) said, "I wish he had stayed a stripper with us. We would have let him back in after he paid us for that one gig he missed."

Gator rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but he was too busy with his girlfriend Marta and trying to get back into the Magician's Alliance."

Curtis said, "But we had fun doing that lesson thing at the docks, right?" He nudged Michael with an elbow.

Michael nodded and remembered the failed lesson they tried to teach George Michael about pot. It was not as believable as the later lesson staged by George Sr. and J. Walter Weatherman. At least Gob and Michael got Dad back, even if it did take a couple of years to do it.

Chet said, "I went to a couple of his magic shows, though. I liked him dancing to the music."

Bix said, "I loved Gob's voice. It was so sexy."

"And the way he looked in a cop uniform!" Mike (the Hot Cop) said.

Kenny added, "Or the Amazing Jesus costume he wore on TV. I mean, all that hotness wasted on those religious fools!"

Gator said, "I wish he had invited us. At least he didn't get married for real."

Michael almost wanted to say that he thought Gob was hot too, but he remembered that he wasn't allowed to say that, as Gob's brother. It was not normal or accepted.

Bix said sadly, "It's too bad he was in the closet, though. I tried to help him out, but he wouldn't let me kiss him."

Michael tried to suppress his jealousy. "When was that?"

"Oh, one time when he first tried on the cop uniform in front of us. He said he wasn't gay, so I didn't try it again."

They all looked sad about poor Gob.

Michael said, "He's getting therapy now. I hope he'll get over his denial." Although maybe Gob needed a better therapist.

The Hot Cops were happy to hear that. "That's so great," Gator said.

Curtis said, "No offense, but your family really fucked him up."

Michael agreed. "They fucked us all up."

Bix then finally asked, "So what are you doing here, Michael? Who's that guy you brought?"

"That's Pete. He's my friend. Do you want to meet him?"

"Sure." They started toward the table, and Mike (the Hot Cop) asked, "Did you guys come for the show, or to meet somebody?"

"Pete's helping me. I want to start dating."

The Hot Cops all stopped to look at Michael in surprise.

Kenny looked both pleased and interested. "You too, Michael?"

Michael nodded, and said, "But I'm not in denial like Gob. I'm bisexual."

Bix smiled and said, "I always had a feeling about you, but I wasn't sure." There was a strange vibe around Michael, but it was confusing and ambiguous. Bix didn't know that it was because Michael always wore a mask around normal people, nor did any of them realize that Michael was in love with Gob, let alone that Gob requited his feelings for a while.

Michael explained, "Well, I'm not out to my family." Most of them, anyway. "And I never had time to date much." Except for Gob, in secret. "I want to try now, though I don't know how to flirt really."

A few of them started to offer to help teach him. "Anything for Gob's brother."

However, then Barry Zuckerkorn spotted them and came over. "Michael! Michael Bluth!"

Dammit! His parents' incompetent lawyer. Before Michael could think what to say, Barry said, "So you found out that I own this place, huh?"

"What?" Michael was startled.

"Sure, I bought it from your brother-in-law Tobias years ago. You should see the dungeon downstairs. Totally worth the price."

"No, thank you."

"Anyway, why did you come, Michael? Did you want to see me about your parents or something? They're still divorcing. Everything's fine." In fact, the divorce was fake, for George and Lucille had let Barry in on their plan for the border wall. Somebody else was pretending to be Lucille's divorce lawyer for the sake of appearances, while Barry handled George Sr.'s case and kept him up to date in the desert sweat lodge colony. Hopefully the wall would be profitable, but Barry was enjoying milking the fake divorce in the meantime. It had taken three years already.

"No, I just-just came to see Gob's friends." Michael glanced at the Hot Cops, who didn't contradict him, for they knew it was a touchy situation, and Michael had said he was not out to his family.

Michael said goodbye to them, and that he might call them soon, then he turned to walk away.

Barry said, "All right. Bye." He spanked Michael's ass.

Michael felt annoyed and angry, but didn't say anything. He just walked back to the table with Pete. The spank reminded him not only of what Gob used to do, but also about Barry's past attempts to come onto him. Though George Sr. had forbidden Barry to be inappropriate with the kids, since they were all adults now, he figured that there was no need for concern and Michael could protect himself.

Indeed, over the years, Michael had been able to put off Barry Zuckerkorn and tolerate his creepiness, but it had been more difficult in his twenties when Dad first forced him to quit law school and made him Manager of the company. It was hard to work with Barry all the time at the Bluth Company, what with Barry commenting on how hot Michael had grown up to be, and it made Michael recall how Barry offered him a job as a paralegal years ago. Plus it annoyed Michael to discover that Barry Zuckerkorn was clearly incompetent and not the legal genius that Mom and Dad thought he was after all. There seemed to be no excuse to keep him now, except that Mom and Dad thought of Barry as family, and all other lawyers had deserted the Bluths in the wake of the Queen Mary hijacking.

Pete saw Michael's face and asked, "Who was that guy who spanked you? You want me to go tell him off?"

"No, it wouldn't do any good. I know him. That's Barry, my parents' lawyer."

"Wait, you don't mean the perv-"

Michael shushed him. "Also the owner of this club."

Pete realized that he could not insult the man here, but he was still pissed. "And what about those other guys you were talking to? Do you know them?"

"Yeah, I'll tell you in the car." Michael asked if they could leave now, for he was in no mood to flirt with anyone now.

Pete understood and followed him back to the Camaro. They got in and drove back to Sudden Valley.

On the way, Michael told Pete about the Hot Cops. "I think they do care about Gob and tried to be his friends, but he was in denial still, and wouldn't let them help him."

"Too bad. He could have used friends."

Michael agreed and parked the Camaro. "Oh, I forgot to ask for their numbers, but I can just look up their stripping agency in the phone book. I guess I'll talk to them tomorrow. They said they would show me how to date guys."

"That's good," Pete said, taking off his seat belt.

They went inside the house, and Michael finally told Pete all about Barry Zuckerkorn, beginning with the incident when he was 15.

Pete was outraged. "I can't believe he's still your family's lawyer after all this time."

"I did fire him once, when I was in charge, but after the Queen Mary, all the other lawyers we knew refused to represent us, so my parents called him back."

"Still, he should have been fired when you were kids. He should have been in jail for being a sex offender. Who else's kids did he go after?"

Michael shrugged. "As far as I knew, he confined his sexual antics to adults after that." But that was only as far as Michael knew. "Us kids didn't see him much again until we were grown up. We were stuck with him after Dad's arrest, and we learned to live with him, since Mom insisted on keeping him." One time, Barry's proclivities had even come in handy when he recognized a photo of "Iraqi landscape" as a closeup of balls instead.

"You have a fucked up family," Pete said, though it was far from the first time that he'd said it.

Michael just nodded.

"No wonder you quit them." Pete stayed a while trying to make sure Michael was all right and asking if he wanted therapy about Barry Zuckerkorn at least.

Michael said no, for Barry had not actually touched him when he was a kid, and his occasional inappropriate contact as an adult just made him annoyed, not afraid.

Pete said, "You shouldn't go back to that club if he owns it, but I'm sure you can tell the Hot Cops that when you talk to them tomorrow."

"Yeah, I guess. They saw him spank me, and I could say I don't want Barry to tell my parents about me being bi. I could tell them that I quit the family too, and don't want to have anything to do with them."

"Sure, and then they can help you meet somebody new. A better boyfriend." Pete really hoped that Michael would soon get over Gob and finally agree to therapy.

"Yeah. Well, thanks for coming with me tonight, Pete."

"Sure. That's what friends are for."

"Yeah." Michael smiled and hugged him before saying goodnight.

Pete left for his own car and drove home.

After turning off the porch light and closing the door, Michael sat on the couch recalling how Gob warned him about Barry when they were kids. Seeing the Hot Cops also reminded Michael of the bachelor party, and the first night he had sex with Gob. It made him sad, and he poured himself a drink. If he got a new boyfriend, maybe he could make Gob jealous. He hoped so.

It was late when he went to bed that night.