If I could just have one last dance with you...
Disclaimer: I do not own Queer as Folk or any of the characters, they belong to Showtime and Cowlip, I also do not own the song "Save the last dance for me" by The Drifters.
Warnings: Slash, some strong language, homophobia and in this chapter, some minor alcohol abuse, offensive language and minor violence.
I can't believe I'm posting chapter 9 of this story! Thank you so much to every single person who has read and reviewed, I'm writing this for you, I hope you enjoy! Reviews much appreciated x
Chapter 9: Always be perfect to me
It was midday on a Saturday and Justin grabbed his keys and headed for the door of the loft.
"Why don't you stay a while?" Asked Brian softly, walking up behind him. Justin hadn't been great since they'd talked about his alcohol dependency, but he'd definitely gotten better, and Brian was definitely glad that he and Justin were okay again, after everything Chris Hobbs did, there was no way Brian was going to let him drive a wedge between them.
"Can't, sorry." Said Justin, turning around to face Brian. "I'm going out."
"But it's noon!" Said Brian, shocked.
"Well, It's not like I have anything better to do!" Justin retorted angrily, quickly losing his temper. Justin had been turning into a bad tempered sting ray over the last few weeks.
Brian's forehead creased slightly in pain as Justin shouted and Justin's anger suddenly melted away.
"There was just something I wanted to show you." Said Brian softly. Justin felt instantly bad for being angry, Brian hadn't done anything wrong, and seeing his lover in pain was the single most upsetting thing he had ever seen.
Justin walked over to Brian. "I'm sorry." He apologised, putting his arms around Brian, he kissed Brian softly as he rubbed his back tenderly. Brian smiled weakly at Justin, and Justin could tell the smile was slightly forced. Not because Brian was getting tired with him, but simply because Brian was just tired, he'd been going non-stop at work and had been looking after Justin whilst still managing to find time to spend with his friends and with Gus. He'd also been to see Debbie a lot over the last few weeks, but he had refused to tell Justin why.
"What was it that you wanted to show me?" Asked Justin, smiling reassuringly.
Brian grinned and Justin and walked over to the loft's living room, Justin followed. Brian picked up the remote from the sofa and turned the TV on. Justin watched the news channel, there were hundreds of protesters walking up and down streets, shouting chants that Justin couldn't quite make out, Justin's forehead creased slightly in confusion as many of the signs the protesters were carrying read:
SAVE OUR SUNSHINE.
"Brian, what...?" Asked Justin, confused even more by the large grin that dominated Brian's face. Justin couldn't help the feeling of happiness consume him when Brian smiled, it felt as if Brian hadn't smiled in a long time.
Justin was brought out of his little daydream as the news reader began to speak.
"It seems as though nearly every PFlag chapter in the country had turned out to try and overturn Christopher Hobbs sentencing," began the news reader, "we have hundreds of protesters, gay, lesbian and straight, who have been marching nearly all night outside city hall trying to convince authorities to overturn Christopher Hobbs lenient sentencing after his vicious attack on gay teen, Justin Taylor. Attacked at his prom..."
Shocked and stunned, Justin walked slowly closer to the television.
"What?" He asked Brian, astounded.
"Debbie was so angry at your trial-" began Brian, "she said she was going to get every PFlag chapter in the country to protest, looks like she did." Brian wasn't lying, he just wasn't telling Justin the whole truth.
Justin couldn't help the tears stream down his face. "Everyone...did this for me?" He asked.
Brian smiled softly. "If we don't look after each other, who will?"
...
Justin was sat alone in a bar on liberty avenue, nursing a drink. He was still in shock and awe from all of the protestors that had turned out to support him. Looking down at his drink and thinking about all of the supporters, he realised that he didn't want to drink it. He knew that it wasn't healthy for him and he also knew that it wouldn't help anything, but above everything else, he now knew that it hurt Brian.
I know how easy it is to lose a person to alcohol, I don't want to lose you.
Justin could hear nothing but Brian's words in his head and could see nothing but Brian's face.
If I can't do this for me, I can do this for you. Justin thought, getting up from his bar stool and exiting the bar, leaving his untouched drink, and his alcohol dependency, behind him.
Walking down the dark streets of Liberty Avenue, Justin just wanted to go home to Brian, snuggle safely in his arms and fall asleep. Justin still found it hard to believe that Brian had changed so much, changed for him. Justin was still expecting to go back to the loft and finding Brian fucking some guy, or drunk, or telling him to get the fuck out. But he never did, he was always waiting, arms open and relief across his beautiful face. It made Justin wonder what kind of hell Brian went through, sitting in that hospital, and even though Justin would do anything to change things so Brian would never have gone through that pain, he had two reasons niggling in the back of his brain to question his own thoughts.
A, whatever thing changed in Brian's brain that night, if it hadn't, and he had continued pretending to be heartless and continued pushing Justin away, Brian would have continued being alone, these past months had been the happiest Justin had ever seen Brian. And B, Justin would forever be grateful that Chris Hobbs had decided to go after him with a baseball bat, because there was a 50% chance that he could have gone after Brian. If their positions had been reversed, Justin knew that he wouldn't have been able to cope. He knew he'd never be able to as strong as Brian had been for him, and he also knew that he would never be able to do it alone.
It also made Justin wonder where Brian would be right now if he'd never woken up.
Shaking off those unpleasant thoughts from his brain and smiling his Sunshine smile as he walked towards the loft; a movement in the shadows thwarted his journey.
Justin immediately lost his footing and fell to the ground as Chris Hobbs emerged from the shadows. Justin had been totally unprepared for a confrontation with Hobbs, and every time he imagined it, Brian had always been right next to him.
"You little cocksucker!" Hobbs shouted, although he looked smug, watching Justin trembling on the ground. "You and your fag posse are making me go to re-trial!" He shouted, "I might go inside for fuck all!"
"I might get justice!" Justin shouted. Hobbs advanced and pulled Justin up by his hair and Justin cried out, Chris clenched his fist and Justin closed his eyes.
"JUSTIN?" A familiar voice called, Justin couldn't help grinning in relief and elation as he and Hobbs turned to see Brian running towards them.
"You little fucker," said Brian, grabbing Hobbs by the throat and yanking him off of Justin with a strength Justin didn't know Brian possessed, "you're not getting away this time."
"Brian!" Justin breathed.
"Sunshine," said Brian, relieved, pulling Justin into a comforting hug with his free arm, "are you okay?"
"Yeah," said Justin, burying his head safely in Brian's chest. "what are you doing here?"
"I came looking for you," Brian admitted, "to tell you Chris Hobbs was going to be re-trialled," he turned to Hobbs, "but apparently, he couldn't wait to tell you himself."
"You're behind this, aren't you?" Hobbs spat, "you fucking faggot."
Brian was silent for a second. "Whoever's' behind it," he said finally, "you will pay for what you did to Sunshine, and now we can throw assault in there, too."
And Justin laughed, proper, free laughter for the first time in too long, and in that second, Brian knew he existed for Sunshine, and every single step in his life had brought him to him.
...
There were so many PFlag members at Chris Hobbs re-trial that there wasn't enough room, but that didn't stop them from making as much noise as they could outside. When Justin, Brian and the rest of their family had arrived, they had genuinely spent two hours thanking all of the supporters and had been reduced to tears many times, even Brian Kinney had shed a tear or two, no matter how much he had tried to deny it.
The courtroom was so packed with supporters that people were standing at the back, but the first few rows were reserved for the Liberty family; Lindsay, Melanie, Ted, Emmett, Michael, a man called, Ben? Brian thought, he didn't know him too well, but planned on giving him the "rules on dating Mikey" talk, Deb, Vic, Jennifer, Daphne, Brian and Justin. Justin was squeezing into Brian's hand so hard he was sure it must be hurting him, but if it was, Brian never said a thing.
They were all holding each other's hands, a simple gesture to show Hobbs, his family and his attorney on the other side of the courtroom, that they were united, they were a family; and they were not going to back down.
They all stood as the judge took his seat, it was a different judge than last time, which could only be a good sign.
"Is this one a homophobe, too?" Debbie whispered, as they all re-took their seats.
"No." Mel grinned, "we might actually be in for a fair trial."
"Or maybe this judge is scared of getting his ass glued to a toilet seat." Michael pointed out. They all had a hard time concealing their laughter and many of them gave Brian high fives under the benches.
"We are all here today to witness the re-trial of Christopher Hobbs against Justin Taylor-" began the Judge, "and even though he pleaded guilty, I have to agree with the many supporters here today that his sentence was far too lenient for such a violent, hate-filled crime." No one in the courtroom could believe their ears.
"And, apparently, many people in the homosexual community agree with me," the Judge continued, "as we wouldn't be here today if it weren't for the protesting organised by Mrs. Deborah Novotny and Mr. Brian Kinney." Many of the people in the courtroom burst into applause and Justin stared, speechless, at Brian. Brian simply smiled at him and didn't say a word. Once the courtroom was silenced the judge continued.
"It has become clear, I think, to everyone in this courtroom that Christopher Hobbs cannot be trusted, as, not only did he viciously attack Mr. Taylor at his prom, but he also assaulted him again two nights ago, and both times he was apprehended by Brian Kinney, who testified in the first trial that Christopher Hobbs' attack on Justin Taylor was unprovoked, and, as Mr. Kinney is the only witness to both of these crimes, his account of the events has to be taken into account, something I believe was overlooked during the last trial." Everybody in the courtroom was holding their breath.
"It seems Mr. Hobbs assaulted Mr. Taylor because he was sent to re-trail, and in my opinion, that means that his attack was unprovoked, which leads me to believe that his previous attack, was also unprovoked. I have, of course, examined all of the evidence from the events that took place," he held up a file, "something, I believe, the previous Judge also overlooked." He read from the file.
"It states here from a statement from Miss. Daphne Chanders, that Mr. Kinney showed up to Mr. Taylor's prom and the two engaged in a ballroom dance to the song "Save the last dance for me," by the Drifters, and many other students at St. James academy, agreed to this statement. Is this statement correct, Miss Chanders?" He asked.
"Yes, your honour." Answered Daphne strongly from the stand.
The Judge nodded. "Personally, I never remembered that specific song to be "provocative." " Chris Hobbs buried his face in his hands.
"And, Mr. Kinney," said the Judge, getting Brian's attention, Brian made his way to the stand and took the oath, Justin never took his eyes off of him.
"Your statement says that, you and Mr. Taylor then proceeded to the parking lot, in which you kissed and said your farewells, and as Mr. Taylor was walking away, from the rear-view mirror of your Jeep, you saw Mr. Hobbs advance on him with a baseball bat."
"Yes, your honour." Brian answered. The Judge then read directly off of the statement, repeating Brian's words.
""I ran after them but they were too far away, when I reached them, Christopher Hobbs had already swung and sent Justin Taylor to the ground. I immediately chased Christopher Hobbs away and hit him to the ground with his own weapon, then proceeded back to Justin Taylor who was lying unconscious on the concrete, when I took him into my arms, there was too much blood to see the full extent of his injuries." Is this correct, Mr. Kinney?"
"Yes." Brian answered quietly.
"That must have been very traumatic for you." Said the Judge kindly, and Brian instantly liked the man.
When Brian was seated almost everybody touched him comfortingly.
"And, then, from the evidence I have," the Judge continued, "Mr. Taylor was in a coma for two weeks and rehabilitation for several months, and to this day still has multiply problems with his motor functions and for a short time, had no recollection of the nights events, while Christopher Hobbs was sentenced to 500 hours of community service." He looked down on Chris. "I hope you realise the seriousness of your crime, young man, that is not the type of sentence we award for attempted murder, whether the person is homosexual, heterosexual, disabled or a war hero, in my courtroom, we are all equal, in my courtroom, we serve justice, I would just like to apologise for the serious miscalculation taken in the first trial." He looked directly at Justin as he said this.
It felt like hours as they all waited for the verdict, but they certainly had a lot to talk about.
"This is actually looking..." began Debbie, unable to get the words out.
"I can't believe what you did." Justin said to Brian.
"It was just some protests," Brian defended.
"Along with everything else you've done for me." Said Justin, he leaned forward and kissed Brian, and both of them hoped to God that Chris Hobbs could see them.
The Judge came back into the courtroom looking down at a piece of paper.
"Considering the hate crime that this offense was based on," he began, "and the unprovoked assault leading to Christopher Hobbs' second offense, the court finds Christopher Hobbs guilty, and the punishment will be a prison sentence - indefinitely."
Chris Hobbs began to cry and every single person who was with Justin Taylor stood and cheered and screamed and whooped, several, including Debbie and Emmett, ran to shake the Judge's hand. Several people also jumped on Justin and Brian and Jennifer hugged, it felt like they'd both received their pay check for all of the time and effort they put in, but they both knew that their real reward was seeing Justin's smile every day. The celebration lead into the streets and would definitely make the news that night, it seemed when you got them going, there was no way to stop them.
Hobbs= 0 Homos=1
Amidst the celebration, Brian and Justin came together in a passionate embrace and Brian could feel Justin's faith in the world be restored.
...
Back at the loft, Brian stopped what he was doing when he saw the saddened look on Justin's face.
"Sunshine..." Asked Brian softly, sitting down next to him.
"You know what you said," began Justin, "about it not mattering? You 'no, I was still alive even though Hobbs got off, and that's all that mattered to you."
"Yeah..." Said Brian slowly.
"That's what it feels like," Justin admitted, looking into Brian's beautiful eyes. "I think my life is gonna finally get better now, I can feel safe again, and I love you-" he reassured Brian, then he sighed, "-but it doesn't matter, I still can't draw."
Brian was trying to think of ways to convince Justin that he would, in fact, draw again, but if Justin didn't believe it, it wouldn't do him much help.
"Well," said Brian softly, taking Justin's bad hand into his own, "even if you can never draw again-" he kissed Justin's hand softly and made Justin's eyes flutter at the pleasure, Brian then looked back up to Sunshine, "-you'll always be perfect to me."
The shared a soft kiss.
Later that night, Justin watched from the living room as Brian sat reading on his bed, Justin had never known Brian to sit down with a good book before, Brian would always find ways to surprise Justin and reveal to Justin just how incredibly deep and deeply incredible he was.
As Justin watched Brian, he couldn't help his love for his man flow through his body, Brian had been there for him every single step of the way, and done everything in his power to make sure Justin's life was okay, he'd even found all of these protestors, Brian was beautiful on the inside and outside.
But just the way he was lying, the way his muscles were flexing...the shadows there...
Justin looked at his sketchpad, needing to get this beautiful man down on paper, but then his eyes slowly travelled up to a different object...
Justin picked up the electronic pencil and turned the God that was the incredible Brian Kinney into an immortal creation of eternal youth and beauty, much like the man himself, Justin thought, so immersed in every curve and contour of the man he loved that he didn't even realise that he was drawing again.