Disclaimer: Not mine, as always.

Rooftops

Chapter 5

Hotshot

Vic's hand rested on Michael's shoulder as they approached the brownstone. Michael could barely grasp the concept of having a place like that in the city. The most he could even begin to fathom was the penthouse lofts Vic had looked at years ago. He stared up at the Bruckner residence with a look of awe.

"Try not to look too surprised when we get inside," Vic told him. "You know, that Ivy League school Ben goes to isn't cheap. Did you really think everyone goes to school on scholarship?"

"No, but I didn't quite expect this," Michael admitted.

"Well, let's go inside and find your boyfriend and hope the shock wears off." He began walking up the front steps.

Michael hurried after him, catching up just as his uncle knocked on the front door. It opened almost immediately and a thin woman with Ben's eyes opened the door.

Her eyes went immediately to Michael.

"You must be Vic Grassi." She shook hands with him and shifted her gaze, "and you must be Michael."

He nodded, "Yes ma'am."

"Well, come on in. Almost everyone is out in the backyard. Michael, you should be able to find Ben somewhere out there."

"Thanks," Michael replied, throwing his uncle a look as the two of them struck up a conversation, and made his way through the house.

As he emerged into the backyard he stared again. It was much larger than he had expected, just like the house. He shook off the feeling as best he could and began to wander around the backyard in search of Ben.

There were so many people, most of them older. He felt horribly underdressed, except when he saw the occasional friend of Ben's. He was just about to turn around and go back into the house when an arm caught him around the waist.

"I saw Vic so I figured you'd be out here somewhere."

Michael turned in Ben's arms and went to kiss him hello but caught himself and hesitated. He wouldn't have dared kiss Ben back in Pittsburgh, not in public.

But Ben didn't seem to have the same reservations.

"What?" he asked when Michael hesitated. Without waiting for a reply he pressed his lips against Michael's. It was quick, but it was a kiss nonetheless. Michael felt himself blush slightly.

"Mmm… I missed you," he told Ben.

Ben grinned. It had only been a day and a half but seeing Michael definitely improved his mood.

"Come on," he said, "I'll introduce you to some of my friends," he sighed, "my parents."

"I already met your mom actually," Michael said, chuckling because Ben already seemed embarrassed, "She let me and Vic in when we got here."

"I'm sorry you had to suffer through that," Ben apologized, guiding Michael through the crowd. Michael tightened his grip on Ben's hand. He felt like people were staring, probably more than they actually were, and it made him slightly uncomfortable. Things were so different here. The only reason he could remain relaxed was knowing that Ben was open about who he was and so many of his friend were there.

Ben stopped at the grill, finding Vic talking to his father about cooking techniques, explaining something about the meat on the grill to him. His father wasn't one to listen to people, and he'd never met Vic before, but he was focused on listening to the younger man.

Vic seemed to notice him staring because he fell silent and cleared his throat, nodding at the two of them.

Both of Ben's parents turned to where Michael stood next to Ben. Mrs. Bruckner smiled at both of them.

Michael was startled by the resemblance. Ben was the spitting image of his father though his hair was certainly lighter with age. He was staring down at Michael with the same intense gaze Ben also directed at him. Michael shifted uncomfortably, tightening his grip on Ben's hand.

"Mom, Dad, I see you've already met Vic, but umm… this is Michael."

"Nice to meet you," Michael said quietly. His mother had at least instilled good manners in him, though he wasn't very familiar with this situation.

Mrs. Bruckner's smile widened, "Ben's been talking about you all morning, Michael. I hope the two of you don't plan on hiding out at your uncle's apartment all summer. You're just as welcome here."

"Good to meet you Michael," Mr. Bruckner's greeting was much firmer, though not unfriendly.

He did however turn to Vic, "Mr. Grassi, with these two spending so much time at your apartment while you're at work don't you expect they could get into trouble?"

Vic looked at them both for a moment, "It's Vic, please. And to be perfectly honest Daniel, kids at their age, gay or straight, are going to find a way to cause whatever kind of trouble they are up for. There are rules in my apartment. Michael, your son and I discussed them the other night, and my nephew knows better than to break them."

Michael nodded, ducking his head. He and Brian had certainly gotten in trouble for breaking a few rules the summer before and he wasn't keen on reliving the experience. The worst punishment of all had been the look of disappointment in Vic's eyes.

"How about you, Ben?" Vic asked.

"No Sir," Ben replied, "I don't plan to break them.

"Good boy," Mr. Bruckner replied. "I guess the four of us will have to sit down and set some ground rules sometime in the future."

"We should make ourselves scarce then, I guess." Ben nodded to his parents and to Vic before he and Michael walked off.

"Well, that was kind of intense," Michael said quietly.

"Yeah," Ben scratched a hand over the back of his neck, "my parents can be a little much. Overprotective."

"You forget that you haven't met my mother yet," Michael reminded him.

Ben smiled. "Listen, I have to go schmooze some of my dad's business partners. You know, be the smart, successful son he likes to show off."

He rolled his eyes dramatically. "I'll be back around in a bit. I hate to tell you to entertain yourself but I promised him I would… be that kid."

Michael smiled, "Go. I'll keep myself busy."

Ben gave him a smile, letting go of his hand before he walked away.

Michael watched Ben strike up a conversation with an older gentleman. He felt a twinge of jealousy deep within himself. He had never known his own father and had no moments like this, making someone proud like Ben. Ben was smart and gregarious, and what his mother must have dreamed of him being.

He knew he should probably tell Ben about his father.

"Hey," Brandon's hand clamped down on his shoulder .

Michael looked up at him, "Hey Brandon."

"So," Brandon passed a full cup to Michael, "I hear you and Ben are seeing each other, or whatever the popular term for that is nowadays."

"Um yeah," Michael took a sip of the drink. The alcohol taste was faint but Michael nodded his appreciation.

"That's good," Brandon said. "He really needs someone to ground him right now. I uhh… also want to apologize for my party. Things don't usually get out of hand like that, and Ben's my friend so it'd kind of suck if he wasn't around at any more of them this summer."

"We'll be back," Michael assured him, "I know how to handle myself."

"Of course you do," Brandon nodded. He followed Michael's gaze out to where Ben was talking with an older gentleman.

"Don't let his golden boy image fool you," he told Michael, taking a sip of his own drink. "He's got problems like a lot of people, and he's going through some pretty tough shit with his dad right now so he might need to lean on you."

"He can lean on me just as much as I can lean on him," Michael replied.

"Just don't hurt him," Brandon said, making the implication clear.

Michael almost smiled. He could hear Brian making the same exact threat.

"I won't," he promised.

Brandon nodded.

They exchanged a few more pieces of useless conversation but Brandon had made his point and wandered away.

Michael made himself busy. He talked to a few more of the guys who had been at Brandon's party, the ones who approached him, remembered him. His uncle seemed to be having the same luck and Michael saw him striking up conversations with more than one of the Bruckners' business associates.

He headed inside the house once he had freed himself from another conversation. His mother's tiny home could fit in the first floor of the brownstone and he couldn't help but marvel at the building as he searched for the bathroom.

As he made his way through the house to return to the back year he went to walk through the kitchen but stopped in the doorway as he heard voices in what seemed to be an argument.

"I told you I didn't want Mr. Dean's internship." He recognized Ben's voice instantly.

"It's impressive that he even offered it to you!" His father replied, "You can't just turn down an opportunity like that! These kinds of opportunities don't get offered to people your age."

"Well, it's too late, because I already did."

"To do what? To continue with that bullshit job and mess around with that child all summer?"

"Michael is-"

"He's a child Ben," his father said sternly, "and you can choose not to see that but it's what he is. Now, I supported you when you came out but I can't support you in dating such trash. People like him will use you for money and do nothing but drag you down. Between him and this writing thing how are you going to focus on what's important this summer?"

"They are what's important to me," Ben said. "If I can't see that I can't change your opinion but don't drag me down."

The sound of him turning and going back outside echoed out of the room. Nothing moved and Michael barely dares to breathe.

After a minute Mr. Bruckner sighed and turned to leave the kitchen. However, instead of heading back outside he headed into the house. He stopped abruptly as he saw Michael and the two of them stared at one another for a moment. He looked as though he was going to speak but walked past Michael and disappeared into a room, slamming the door behind him. Michael looked after him before walking into the backyard.

He began hunting for Ben in the crowd, eventually spotting him talking to an associate of his father's. He wasn't outwardly upset but Michael could hear it in his voice as he recounted his experiences from college.

Michael stepped up behind him and slipped his hand into Ben's, trying to comfort him in some small way.

Ben glanced over his shoulder and smiled, "Mr. Dean, I'd like you to meet my boyfriend, Michael."

"It's nice to meet you, young man." The old man replied without so much as looking stunned. "Benjamin, I hope you have a good summer. Good luck with your classes next semester."

"Thank you, Sir." Ben said, nodding to him.

As he left Ben pulled Michael in for a kiss that rejuvenated them both.

"Are you having a good time?"

Michael smiled up at them, "Yeah, of course, but I think that you owe me a private tour."

"Later," Ben promised, pulling him closer. "Although, now that my sonly obligations have been fulfilled we can escape."

"Escape?" Michael asked.

Ben smiled. "Let's grab some lunch."

Ben led Michael to a room upstairs. He hadn't noticed that all of Ben's friends had been disappearing but here they all were, in one room. It seemed to be some type of rec room, complete with a few couches and a TV. They made room for Ben and Michael on the couch.

As they ate the conversation slowly changed from how semesters at school had been, to what everyone was doing, to who everyone was doing.

"So, what's the scene like in Pittsburgh?" someone asked Michael.

"It's uhh… pretty similar to here from what I can tell," Michael said. "There's this street downtown, Liberty Avenue. There are all these clubs, different scenes, stores and this diner."

"You go down there a lot?"

Michael shrugged, "My friend and I sneak down there a few times a week. Grab some drinks and go out dancing."

"Better question," another guy piped up, "How are the men?"

A few of them, including Ben, laughed.

"New York's been measuring up pretty well so far, but Pittsburgh doesn't lack fine specimens either." Michael said.

As the rest of them began asking questions Ben stared at Michael. He had quickly presumed that Michael had very limited knowledge but what he knew seemed quite extensive. It was more than he had known at that age.

He put his hand on Michael's leg for no real reason, vowing to himself to bring it up later. His friends were beginning to discuss the night's plans. They wanted to go to The Works. He wasn't sure how he could get Michael in but it was certainly going on his to-do list for the summer. Being that close to Michael was fast becoming one of his favorite activities, and having an excuse to do so just made it better.

He tugged on Michael, pulling him off of the arm of the couch and down onto his lap.

"Do you want to go?" Michael asked him.

"Not tonight," Ben replied, pressing a kiss to Michael's shoulder, then his neck. "I can't. I have to work first thing in the morning."

Michael raised an eyebrow, but before he could say anything Ben pulled him in for a longer kiss.

Michael didn't pull back until a pillow struck him in the back of the head.

"Christ!" Brandon griped, "Will you two please spare us."

"You're just jealous that you're not currently getting any," Ben replied immediately.

"Very true," Brandon chuckled.

Ben threw the pillow back across the room, letting them all resume normal conversation.

Hours passed like they did when he was at home, causing trouble with Brian or spending an afternoon down at Buzzy's reading comics. Michael found that he liked Ben's friends. For the most part, they didn't treat him like he was seventeen, at least not in a holier than thou way.

That was why when the boys began regaling one another with stories of their first blowjobs he had no problem telling the story about his and Brian's second ever trip to Babylon the previous summer. It was also pleasantly surprising to find that Ben hadn't had the experience until his freshman year of college.

One of Ben's friends from high school, and long before he had come out, a twink of a guy named Tim was enthusiastically telling about an experience at a club in Canada during the past semester when he stopped abruptly. His face got red as he caught the eyes of someone standing in the doorway, behind the couch Michael was sitting on.

He turned around to find his uncle leaning against the doorjam, hands tucked into his pockets and one leg crossed in front of the other.

"Don't stop on my account," he said, noticing that the attention of the entire room was on him.

"Uhh…" Tim stumbled through his words. "This isn't exactly the kind of thing most parents want to hear."

Michael was the only one who noticed Vic's grimace at being called a parent and he let out a chuckle.

"Guys, this is my Uncle Vic. He's-"

"Heard the story of Michael losing his virginity from more than once source, and told plenty my own tales from the backroom of The Works."

It was Michael's turn to blush as a few of the other guys in the room laughed and spoke their disbelief.

"Michael, I'm heading out, and I would really prefer that you didn't walk home alone at night. It looks like Ben's going to stay here and help his parents clean up so-"

"He can walk back with me, Vic," Brandon spoke up. "I'm leaving in half an hour. I'll make sure he gets home all right."

He winked at Vic and several of his friends started laughing.

A grin crossed Vic's face at the teenaged activity, and he shook his head, nodding at Michael, "I'll see you in a bit then."

"Evening Vic." Ben called out.

"See you tomorrow, Ben."

Ben grinned. He actually wouldn't be around the following day but it was nice to know Vic expected him already.

Vic closed the door behind him and they all turned back to Tim, expecting him to pick up where he'd left off.

He was staring at Michael. "That's your uncle? Man, he's like a legend at the Works!"

Michael shrugged. It didn't surprise him.

Tim started for a moment before shaking off his look of awe and continuing with his tale.

A half hour later seemed to be a leaving time for most of Ben's guests, all eager to get home and get ready to go out.

"I'll meet you at the corner," Brandon told him purposefully as he bumped Michael's shoulder on the way down the stairs.

"Thanks."

Michael stopped on the front stairs next to Ben as they all walked down the street

As his friends scattered in either direction Ben wrapped an arm around Michael and leaned in to kiss him.

Just as he had at the party Michael couldn't help but stiffen a little. It was still early enough that the sidewalks were crowded with people.

"Don't," the word escaped before he could stop it.

Ben immediately paused and stepped back, "What's wrong?"

Michael leaned back against the railing, "I'm just not comfortable being…" He searched for the right word.

"You had no problem upstairs," Ben reminded him, seeming to sense where his mind was going.

"Yeah, I just mean, your friends are all gay themselves, or cool with it. But people just walking by…" He looked out at the sidewalk.

Ben stared for a moment. "You're not out at home are you?"

Michael looked at him. "The people who matter know. Everyone else is just white noise. It doesn't matter."

"Yes it does." Ben prompted, "Michael?"

"No. Some people kind of have their assumptions but no, I'm not out to a lot of people." He took a step forward.

"It's different here, Ben. If we did that in Pittsburgh, at a place like your parents' party, on the front steps of my house… I'd hate to think of what would happen."

"That's what's so great about New York," Ben said with a nod.

Michael looked at him. He trusted Ben but it wasn't easy to step out of his comfort zone.

"Still."

Ben nodded and pulled Michael back in through the doorway. He pushed him hard against it, forcing the door closed and before Michael had really gained his footing was pressed against him, kissing him hard. Michael smiled into the kiss and took tight hold of the shirt Ben was wearing.

Ben pulled back quickly at the sound of a woman clearing her throat.

"Good evening, Michael," she said, "I hope we see you around some more this summer."

"Of course," he nodded, opening the door as a blush crept up his neck, "Goodnight Mrs. Bruckner."

He pushed himself up onto his tiptoes and pressed another kiss to Ben's lips, "Night Ben."

"Bye," Ben replied.

Michael closed the door behind himself and Ben turned to his mother.

"Did you have to do that?"

"It's my privilege as a parent to embarrass you, Sweetheart," she told him, "And I'm sure that's the least compromising position I'll find the two of you in this summer, so you'll survive."

"Mom!" Now Ben was blushing.

"Why don't you go help your father clean up out back?"

Ben gladly took the opportunity to escape. It was a big backyard; it would be easy to avoid another conversation with his father.

"Took you long enough," Brandon complained around his cigarette as Michael caught up to him.

"Sorry," Michael replied.

Brandon shrugged and started walking, offering the cigarette to Michael.

"So Brandon," he began, taking a drag, "You've known Ben for a long time, right?"

"About ten years," Brandon agreed, taking the cigarette back.

"What's he like, I mean, with school and people?"

"You mean, is he different than he is with you?"

"I guess."

Brandon thought about it for a moment. "He's smart. Really smart. He got into Yale without any help from his parents, and he does all this stuff on campus and still manages to keep his grades up. As for people, he's got more friends than anyone I know and…" he paused, thinking for a moment, "I guess as far as guys go, he gets around. You wouldn't believe the stories he tells me about school."

Michael was quiet for the rest of the walk home as Brandon went on about school and Ben.

Ben headed to Michael's quickly after getting out of work two days later. Michael was expecting him and they had planned to walk down to the park again.

However, it was Vic who answered the door.

"I don't think he's quite as excited as you are," Vic told him as he opened the door wider, letting Ben past.

Ben raised an eyebrow, "What's wrong?"

"His mother got his grades in the mail today."

"Oh." He remembered Michael mentioning his hatred of school more than once. "I take he didn't have a good semester."

Vic shook his head. "No, not at all. Technically, I'm supposed to ground him for the rest of the time that I'm here, or at least until I can calm my sister down. That said," he paused, giving Ben a pointed look, "I am going to take a very long, relaxing shower, and if he sneaks out while I'm in there I'm not going to go out looking for him."

"Yes Sir," Ben grinned.

He left Vic standing in the living room and made his way over to Michael's room, closing the door securely behind him. He climbed onto the bed where Michael seemed to be dozing.

He grinned and began massaging Michael's shoulders, "You know, I think you have this moping thing down to an art."

"Mmm?" Michael turned his head, "You're not supposed to be here, you know." He smothered a groan, "I'm-"

"Grounded." Ben finished. "I heard. I also heard that if you sneak out while your uncle is in the shower he's not going to look for you, and I assume that means he isn't going to punish you."

Michael chuckled. That didn't surprise him.

"So," Ben continued, "Do you want to come up to the roof with me?"

"Yeah," Michael nodded, rolling over and pushing himself up into a sitting position.

"How bad was it?" Ben asked as they let themselves out of Vic's apartment, closing the door and starting for the stairs.

Michael chose not to answer until they had reached the roof.

"One B, two Cs and two Ds." He said as they strolled across the roof.

"Ouch," Ben commiserated.

"Yeah, Michael sighed, collapsing into an empty chair. "And I would have done even worse without Brian helping me study for everything."

"Maybe you could have," Ben told him.

"No," Michael knew Ben was trying to make him feel better but he hated when people took this attitude with him. "I'm not smart Ben. School really just sucks for me and I can't wait to be done for good."

Ben didn't know what to say. He had always liked school, but then, a lot of it had come so easily to him.

The best way was possibly to just push onto another subject. He wrapped an arm around Michael from behind, leaning on the back of his chair.

"Tell me about Pittsburgh," he requested.

Michael laughed a little, "What about it?"

"Where you live? Brian? Your mom? Whatever you want to talk about really," Ben said, releasing him and pilling another chair close. "You at an advantage here. You get to see me living life like I do every day. I, on the other hand, know very little about your life. It's completely unfair."

Michael took a deep breath. Maybe he did owe this to Ben. Brian was the easiest place to start, but in other ways the most difficult. He thought for a moment.

"Okay, so I should tell you that one day Brian Kinney is going to be God's gift to Liberty Avenue…"

A/N: Finally I'm back. As I thought break has been incredibly hectic, and I've been working more than 40 hours a week, but I have been writing on my breaks, mostly working on various part of this. I've made it my writing goal to finish this before the end of the upcoming semester. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. The next one, I'm hoping, will be up more quickly than the last.

Leave some love,

Megan