Previously On Queer As Folk: Brian and Justin opened their pool. After Michael called complaining about the heat, they invited him over for a barbeque and a swim.
Chapter Fifty-One
After their refreshing swim, Brian and Justin set Gus up with a movie in his room and took a shower. They knew they'd be swimming again once Michael and Ben showed up, but wanted to wash the chlorine smell off, even if for only a little while. "What time are they supposed to come over?" Justin asked, soaping Brian's back.
"Four or five. Michael said that Ben had to finish some work first," Brian replied.
"They must be going out of their minds with this heat."
"It is pretty hot out there. Thankfully we've got air conditioning that works."
"And a pool."
"I guess it's a good thing we decided to open it today."
"Yeah."
"Gus'll be happy to have 'Uncle Michael' come over."
"It'll be nice to hang out with them," Justin agreed, working the soap down Brian's back.
"Yeah. We used to hang out all the time. Practically ever day. But now we both have other things occupying our time."
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Justin turned so that Brian could do his back.
"Definitely good. There are things I do to you that I could never do to Michael," Brian said, grinning mischievously.
"There was a time that you could have."
"No, I never would have fucked him."
"What about that time you jerked him off in his bedroom?" Justin challenged.
Brian chuckled. "That was a long time ago," he whispered into Justin's ear.
"Still." Justin spun around to face him, trying hard not to smile.
"I was horny. He had a woody."
"And?"
"It never would have gone further than that. Everybody knows you don't sleep with your friends."
"It is a general rule. Although, I did sleep with Daphne," Justin mused.
"What's with the sudden reminiscence about me and Michael?" Brian asked, knitting his brows.
Justin shrugged. "I don't know."
"You're not jealous of my best friend, are you?" Brian could sense trouble brewing.
"Are you kidding me?" Justin laughed. "I don't care. That was years before we met. Besides, I know that you love Michael. Just not as much a much as you love me. And I'm glad that you haven't changed so much that you revolve your life around me and forget all about the other people in your life."
"Then why the inquisition?"
"I was just wondering why you chose me over Michael, that's all."
Brian pulled Justin into a tight embrace. "I didn't choose you over anybody. You chose me."
"I stalked you till you had no choice," Justin added.
"You certainly knew what you were doing. Do you know how many of my former tricks tried to turn it into something more? After I told them that it was just sex and it didn't mean anything, they left. But I couldn't have gotten rid of you no matter what I did. I'm sure if I would've gotten that job in New York, you would've followed me."
"I probably would have," Justin agreed. "I saw what I wanted and I decided that I was going to have you no matter how long it took. Lucky for me, it paid off.
"Lucky me." Brian leaned down and pressed his lips against Justin's.
"But I knew you loved me. Even from the very beginning," Justin continued.
"How?" Brian pulled back, brows knit.
"You told me."
"When?"
"The first time we made love."
Brian chewed his lip. "I don't remember." The details about that night were still a little sketchy. He remembered picking Justin up outside of Bablyon and taking him home. Once they got there, he'd been in the process of giving Justin a hand job when Melanie had called to tell him that Lindsay had had the baby. Excitedly, he'd called Michael and when he'd learned that Justin had nowhere to go, had taken him along, too. After that, however, everything got fuzzy. Except of course the sex.
"It was right before you came," Justin explained.
"I was high," Brian argued jokingly.
"You still said it."
"I didn't know what I was doing."
"I remember. You did handstands and juggled. Poorly, I might add."
"And made a mess of the living room," Brian added.
"We've made worse since."
"So you really knew all along?"
"No," Justin admitted. "But you weren't going to get a choice in the matter."
Laughing, Brian shut off the water and grabbed the towels. "Well, if it helps my case any, you know that I did love you from the beginning."
"I know, you told me." Justin kissed Brian on the cheek. "Even if you were a total dick."
"I was not a total dick," Brian said with mock irritation.
"Just a bit."
"Yeah." Brian took Justin in his arms again. "But I'm really glad that you never gave up on me."
"Me, too." They kissed again, more passionately this time. Brian's hands started to move down Justin's waist, causing him to shiver with delight.
Mustering all the strength he had, Justin broke the kiss before it turned into something more. "We need to go get ready for dinner," he reminded Brian softly.
"Can't it wait just a little while?" Brian whined jokingly.
"After Michael and Ben leave we can pick this up, okay?"
"Okay." Brian sighed.
After getting dressed, Brian went in to check on Gus. The boy was so involved in his movie that he didn't even hear him come in. "Hey Gus," he said, sitting down on the edge of the bed.
Gus's head turned at the sound of Brian's voice and a smile lit up his face. "Watch the move with me, Daddy!" he said, laughing jubilantly.
"I wish I could, Sonny Boy, but I have to go to the store and get some stuff for dinner. Do you want to come?"
"Yes!" Gus jumped off of the bed and turned the television off.
"Okay." Brian couldn't help but smile at Gus's fervor. "Let's get you dressed, then." Brian pulled out a shirt and shorts for Gus to wear. Helping him out of the pajamas that he'd insisted on wearing after swimming, Brian handed him the new clothes. "Can you do it by yourself?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Okay. I'm going to go find out what else we need. I'll meet you downstairs."
Brian found Justin down in the kitchen, looking through the refrigerator. "Looking for something?" he asked.
"Lettuce. I was thinking that since you're going to make burgers, a nice salad would be nice, too."
"Mmmm I love your creamy salads," Brian said devilishly.
"I know." Justin laughed. "That's why I'm making one."
"Good." Brian grinned. "Gus and I are going to run to the store and pick up some things for dinner. I'll grab a bag of lettuce for you."
"Make it two."
"All right."
"You should probably get some dressing, too. And some potatoes.
"Potatoes?"
"For baked potatoes."
"Are you trying to kill me?" Brian teased.
"Only with kindness." Justin stood up on his tiptoes and kissed Brian softly.
Brian returned the kiss. "I'd better get going," he said, grabbing his keys. "They'll be here in an hour."
"I'm ready!" Gus cried, running into the room.
"Good boy." Brian picked Gus up and tickled him.
"Bye guys," Justin said, laughing joyously.
"Bye dear." Brian smiled warmly and waved. "See you in a bit."
Michael could barely contain his excitement on the way to Brian and Justin's. He was talking a mile a minute and if Ben didn't love him as much as he did and didn't have the patience of a saint, he would've gone out of his mind. Instead, he found the whole thing amusing. He knew that Michael had been missing Brian lately and was glad that they'd get the opportunity to hang out together and catch up. Seeing Michael so happy was a pleasant reward. "Can you believe that Brian's going to cook for us! He never cooks. I don't even think he knows how to use a grill," Michael said, not even stopping to take a breath.
"I'm sure he'll figure it out," Ben assured him.
"You know, this is only the second time we've been over to the new house. It's going to take some getting used to. I miss the loft. He lived there for over a decade and I loved that place. It so cool and, and…so Brian."
"What, you don't think the new house isn't Brian?" Ben queried.
"It is, but it's more Justin."
"He bought the house to make Justin happy."
"I know and I'm glad that he did. Remember how crazy he was while they were broken up? He came over in the middle of the night, drunk, and started accusing me of infecting Justin and breaking them up." Michael's stomach knotted up at the memory. He and Brian hadn't spoken for a while after that and it had taken the threat of nearly dying to bring him around.
"You're awfully wound up," Ben noted, quickly taking his eyes off the road to look over at Michael. Debbie had let them borrow her car for the day and Ben had volunteered to drive.
"I know." Michael shrugged. "I guess I'm just excited to be spending time with Brian. It's like we don't even see each other anymore."
"I'm sure it's just because he's got Gus right now and wants to spend as much time as he can with him before he has to go home."
"Yeah." Michael sighed. I wish I could have J.R. for the summer.
Reading his mind, Ben reached over and squeezed his hand. "In a couple more years, you'll get J.R. for the summer," he said.
"A couple of years is a long time away," Michael grumbled.
"We'll see her soon," Ben reminded him. "They're coming down for the Fourth of July."
"It can't come fast enough."
"I know."
Ben pulled up the driveway and parked next to Brian's Corvette. As soon as the car stopped moving, Michael was out. He grabbed the bottle of booze they'd brought for the occasion. Grinning broadly, he stepped up onto the porch and rang the doorbell. A few seconds later, the door opened to reveal Justin. "Hey guys," he said cheerily.
"Hi." Michael gave him a quick hug. Ben smiled and hugged him, too.
"No Hunter?" Justin looked out at the empty porch.
"He wanted to stay home and spend time with Lexi," Ben explained.
"But I like it this way. It's just the four of us," Michael interjected. "It can be like a…."
"Double date?" Brian interrupted, coming down the stairs "Mikey, you are so pathetic."
Despite Brian's insult, Michael immediately perked up. He was used to Brian calling him pathetic. It was practically a term of endearment. "Hey" Michael hugged Brian fiercely.
"Glad you could make it," Brian whispered into his ear.
"Me, too."
"And Professor," Brian turned to face Ben, "you look lovely today."
"Thanks, Brian." Ben laughed. "So do you."
"This is for you." Michael held out the bottle of booze.
"How thoughtful, Mikey. My favorite. Thanks."
"You're welcome. But it's for dinner so don't drink it all now."
"Fine." Brian sighed. "Well since Justin made the salad already and the potatoes were just put in the oven, how about we go for a quick dip in the pool?"
"Sounds good to me!"
Michael and Ben changed into their swimming trunks and met the others out at the pool. "Uncle Michael!" Gus cried, seeing Michael for the first time. He threw himself into Michael's arms.
"Hey big boy! How are you?" Michael hugged him tightly. He'd often spent time with Gus when he was younger. He'd been more of a father to him than Brian had been.
"Come swim with me," Gus pleaded.
"How could I say no to such a cute face." Michael allowed Gus to lead him into the water. Thankfully, it was cool. "Ah, this is nice," he sighed, settling into the water.
"What do you think is wrong with your air conditioning?" Justin asked.
"I don't know but it's way too hot not to have it working."
"It's not supposed to cool down until tomorrow," Brian said, splashing Michael.
"Are you kidding me?" Michael groaned.
"We're going to have to figure something out," Ben mused. "Fans don't help at all."
Brian caught Justin's eye and smiled. Justin nodded in understanding. "Why don't you guys stay here tonight?" Brian asked.
"Are you sure? I mean, we wouldn't want to impose…" Michael started.
"It's not a big deal. We'll make up the guest room. You'll have your own bathroom."
"Sounds good to me."
"And that way, you can have all the booze you want tonight."
"Even better," Ben joked.
"It's settled, then."
The swim rejuvenated them all. "I'm going to go take care of the potatoes," Justin announced, drying himself off with a towel.
"I'll help," Ben said, following him.
"Thanks."
"And I have to go get the burger ready."
"I'll start the grill," Michael offered.
"Okay. I'll be right back." Brian followed the others back into the house.
Michael opened the top of the grill and frowned. It wasn't a regular grill as he'd expected. It was a charcoal grill. No propane at all. He'd never used a charcoal grill before. Nice. Looking around, he spotted a bottle of lighter fluid nearby. He picked it up and squeezed a bit onto the charcoal. He took the lighter next to the grill and used it to light the fire. Immediately the charcoal was aflame. There, that wasn't so hard. The flames didn't last long, though.
Confusedly, Michael poured some more fluid in and lit it. The fire burned for a minute or so before dying out again. What the hell! Michael's cheeked burned with irritation as he repeated the action again. As before, the fire went out. Pissed off now, Michael squeezed the bottle until a generous amount of lighter fluid gushed out.
Brian came up behind him. "What the fuck are you doing?" he asked, eyebrow cocked inquisitively.
"I'm trying to get this damn thing to stay lit," Michael explained.
"Mikey…" Brian laughed. "How much lighter fluid did you put in there?"
"Almost the whole bottle." Why was that so funny?
"Christ, Mikey. The fire's supposed to go out. It heats up the charcoal enough the cook the meat."
"Oh." Michael's anger dissipated and was quickly replaced with embarrassment. He lowered his head to avoid Brian's gaze.
After a few seconds, Brian burst out into laughter. Michael couldn't help but join in.
Brian was surprisingly adept at grilling. He cooked the burgers to perfection, surprising even Justin. After dinner Justin did the dishes while Brian took Gus upstairs for bed. Michael and Ben offered to help clean up, but Justin refused. "You're our guests," he explained. "Go relax for a while."
"I hate to be a downer, but I'm exhausted." Ben yawned. "I think I'm going to go to bed early."
"I'm going to stay up for awhile," Michael told him.
"Okay." Ben gave him a quick kiss.
"Good night," Justin called.
"Good night."
When Brian came down the stairs, Michael was waiting. "I'm really glad that you invited us over," he said.
"It's been fun, Mikey," Brian agreed.
"Yeah, it has." They both started to laugh at the memory of the grill incident.
"How about we watch a movie?" Brian suggested when he'd regained his composure.
"Sure. What did you have in mind?"
"I've got just the perfect movie."
Michael was delighted when Brian turned on their favorite. Dirty Dancing. "Our movie!" he exclaimed.
"Brings back memories, doesn't it?" Brian sat down on the couch and motioned for Michael to join him. "Patrick Swayze is so hot."
"We're not going there again," Michael warned him, laughing.
"And here I thought I was going to seduce you," Brian replied sarcastically.
"Sorry to spoil your plans."
Brian's smile vanished and he grew serious. "I love you, Mikey. Always remember that."
"I love you, too," Michael said confusedly.
"Even if we don't see each other all the time anymore, it doesn't mean that I don't think of you."
"Thanks for saying that." Michael felt a wave of giddiness wash over him. He'd been afraid that Brian was leaving him behind. It was nice to know that he wasn't.
Feeling much better, Michael rested his head on his best friend's shoulder. Together, they enjoyed the movie.
Next Time On Queer As Folk: In Toronto, the boys enjoy the nightlife. Emmett makes a new friend.
