A/N: In this fic, it's October. Just thought I should let everyone know.

Queer as Folk: Alternate Universe

The next morning, Brian woke up at 10 am. He decided to go check the alley and see if Justin was there. Whether he was or wasn't, he would get his video camera's back and look at the tapes. All though he didn't know Justin, he knew in his gut, he cared about this kid. He didn't know why, but it was most likely because it seems his childhood was worse than his. He never wanted another person to go through that.

After he got dressed, he went outside and he walked so quietly you couldn't even hear him into the alley. He didn't see Justin anywhere, so he was probably at the diner or walking around or maybe just hiding. He hoped he wasn't hiding. Then he would know someone was watching him.

After getting the camera's, he went back up to his loft. He plugged in one of the camera's and after a screen popped up, that showed him what happened last night, he waited for it to fully load. He fast forwarded and didn't see anything on that tape. He unplugged that camera and plugged in the next one. As he was fast forwarding, half way through, he saw someone pass by the camera. He paused and rewound. He stared at the person trying to figure out who it was. He played for couple more seconds and after he saw the person turn their head, he paused it again. He looked like the description Deb has told him. It looked like he had blond hair, sweatpants and sweatshirt that looked black and gray, and looked 16. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach.

He fast forwarded through the rest of the tape. He plugged in the last camera. What he saw, made him want to cry, and made him pissed off. The camera was pointed toward the mattress, that he put out there 3 months ago. He saw Justin laying on it. He saw the duffel bag next to the mattress. It looked like the blankets were really dirty, and the mattress probably was by now. He had never run away from home when he was younger, so for this kid to run, his childhood must be worse. Brian knew he needed to do something. First, he was gonna tell Debbie. Second, he was gonna get the kid and help him in anyway. Third, he would protect the kid. And Fourth, he would get the kid to tell him about what happened in his home. Brian knew he should have talked about what was going on in his home. It would have relieved so much stress. And being 16 years old, he shouldn't need to be stressed. He didn't want to wait to get this kid out of that alley in into his loft. He had to get to the diner NOW!

After taking the third camera and laptop, he raced to the diner. He just had to show Debbie. After getting to the diner, he parked and went inside. He saw Debbie behind the counter doing whatever, but didn't see anybody who looked like the kid on the tape. He went over to the counter. "I need to talk to you. Now." Brian told her. She turned around and looked at him.

"Is everything okay?"

"No. Everything is not okay. I need to talk to you privately. Right now." Debbie took him to the back. He set his laptop on the desk they had there, plugged in his camera and hit play. "Look at this." Debbie looked at the screen and couldn't believe it. She was shocked, upset, pissed, and -for once- speechless. She didn't know what say.

"I can't believe. That's...that's Sunshine."

"I bet he's been there for these past two weeks. Where is he anyway?"

"In the bathroom. I think he's sitting back in the booth by now. I have to talk to him."

"No, Deb. I know kind of how he's feeling. Obviously his life is worse than mine at home, so I know what he's going through. I should talk to him."

"All right." They left the back and when they came into the front of the diner, Justin turned to looked at them. He saw Debbie hug this man, then sit down across from him. Justin looked at him. "It's okay. I just want to talk to you." Justin looked over at Debbie, and she nodded and smiled. He looked back at Brian. "I'm Brian Kinney."

"Justin."

"Just one name?" Brian joked.

"No." Justin answered shyly. For someone who had the confidence to run away from home, doesn't seem like he's confident now. Brian thought.

"What's your last name?"
"Taylor." He answered quietly.

"Justin Taylor. Nice name. I like it."

"You do?"

"Yeah. You don't look bad either."

"Uh, Thanks."

"Shouldn't you be at school?"

"I don't have school today."

"Then you should be home then."

"I just wanted to walk around a little bit, and then I decided to get something to eat."

"You could just eat at home instead of spending money to eat here." Does he know something? What should I do? Should I just tell him the truth? It seems like that's the only thing to do. But he knows Debbie. He's gonna tell her. I'll just tell him anyway. Justin thought. He had all the thoughts running through his mind, not completely sure to still tell Brian. He only met him 5 minutes ago. "Justin?"

"Huh?"

"Where'd you just go?"

"Just thinking. I seem to do that a lot."

"I used to think a lot too when I was your age and younger. I would think about...stuff at home...My childhood took a turn for worst when I turned 8 years old. My so-called father would...he would beat me. My, um, so-called mother would tell me...she never wanted me."

"I don't mean to sound rude or anything but why are you telling me this? I mean, we just met."

"Because I want you to know that you can talk to me. You may have heard the I'm the 'stud of Liberty Avenue' and I'm an all around asshole. But I can be nice when I want to." Brian smiled at him. He definitely knows something. Justin thought.

"You know don't you? About me and what happened two weeks ago."

"I don't know everything completely. A couple days ago Debbie told me for the past two weeks you have been wearing that same sweatshirt and same sweatpants and they looked bigger on you and you look paler. And for those same two weeks, I kept hearing sounds coming from the alley next to my building. So last night I hid three cameras and saw you." Justin wouldn't say anything. He absorbed the information Brian just told him. "Please don't be mad. Debbie was worried about you and so was I." Brian just realized what he just confessed. Oh well. Too late now. Brian thought.

A/N: This chapter was hard to write, so be very gentle.