Chapter 10 – Surprise

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Who the hell could that be?

Brian listened to the pounding at the door as he was pounding into Justin. "We are not fucking answering it," he ground out, determined to finish what he'd started.

Brian heard Justin's grunt of agreement as he moved with his lover. Brian raised his voice as the knocking continued. "Go away!"

The knocking didn't stop. Brian tried again, yelling louder. "Go away!"

After a few more minutes, the distraction got to Brian. "Christ!" He disentangled himself and got up, looking down at Justin, furious at the interruption. "Hold that thought while I go and kill whoever the fuck is at the door." Justin gave a groan and collapsed back into the bed.

Brian threw on some sweats and went to open the sliding door. "Do you know what time…" Brian's voice broke off at the sight of the beautiful, tall, blonde woman standing at the door holding his son's hand.

"Lindsay," Brian looked at Lindsay's face, seeing the exhaustion in her red-rimmed eyes. "What the fu…" Brian broke off in the face of Gus' innocent stare. "What's wrong? Are Melanie and JR okay?"

"They're in Toronto, they're fine. Can we come in?" Lindsay pointed question shook Brian out of his shock.

Brian called out a warning, "Justin, Lindsay and Gus are here," before reaching down to pick up Gus. "Hey, Sonnyboy. How's it going?"

Gus leaned back to look into his father's face, putting one hand on each cheek. His face lit up and he gave Brian a kiss before answering, "I had to sleep in the car. I have to go potty." Gus leaned in and put his head on his father's shoulder.

Brian winced at the word. He glared incredulously at Lindsay "Potty?"

Lindsay shrugged with a weak laugh. "I'll work on it."

Justin came out of the bedroom, pulling a blue t-shirt on. His greeting of "Lindsay, it's good to see you," was followed by a hug and a series of questions about his New York opening. "I'm so proud of you, Justin," Lindsay praised. "I knew you could make it in New York."

Justin looked at Brian with a question in the glance. Brian's shrug plainly said I haven't got a clue. Justin smiled at Gus, snuggled in Brian's arms. "Hey, big guy! How about you and me going out to the Diner to see Grandma Deb and have some breakfast?"

Gus laughed "Hi, Jus! Let's go see Grandma Deb after I go potty." Gus wriggled a bit and Brian put him down.

"Sounds good," Justin laughed and led Gus to the bathroom.

Brian started making coffee as he and Lindsay waited for Justin and Gus to leave.

Justin came out with Gus and told the little boy to wait while he put on his shoes. "Lindsay, I have some things to do today, but I'm sure that between Deb, Michael, and Daph, we can spoil Gus rotten until you're ready to come get him." Justin flashed a quick smile, "It's really great to see you both. I've missed you."

Brian took a step toward Justin. "What things?"

"I guess it's time to go see the doctors, get tested and find out exactly what I'm getting into."

Lindsay gazed at the younger man, searching for clues. "Justin? What's wrong? Why do you have to go to the doctor?"

"I'm fine, Lindsay. It's not that important. Brian can explain after Gus and I head out."

Brian looked from Lindsay to Justin. "Justin, do you want me to come along?"

Justin smiled at the sight of Brian Kinney, torn, deciding who needed him more. "It's okay, Bri. Daphne promised to go with me if you had to work. Nothing's going to happen today. Besides, I have this great distraction right here." Justin picked Gus up and started tickling him as they left the loft.

Brian handed Lindsay a mug of coffee, taking the coffee pot for himself. "Hungry?" At Lindsay's nod, Brian got out some cereal and handed Lindsay a bowl.

She took it with an apprehensive "Why isn't Justin in New York? And why is he going to see a doctor?"

Brian gave Lindsay a quick rundown on the situation as they ate. After a few more minutes of polite conversation, Brian got irritated. "Okay, spill it. Why are you here without Smellie Mellie?"

Lindsay got up from the counter where she had been sitting and started to move around the loft. Spotting the sketches Justin had done the previous day, she started to look through them, avoiding the question. "Brian, do you think I could have this one of Gus?"

"If you ask Justin, I'm sure he'll paint a whole series for you." Brian's patience snapped. "What the fuck is going on?"

"Divorce," came the blunt declaration. "Well, at least as much as two lesbians who were never legally married can get divorced." The last was said without anger, only a lingering melancholy at the death of the relationship.

"After ten years, it's a divorce." Brian's concern was obvious. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Lindsay glanced over, resigned. "We've been fighting for the last two years. It never stops. We think we solve it and then we start again."

"What went wrong this time?"

"I don't know how..." Lindsay took a deep breath. "The bombing - Dusty's death made us start over. We talked, threw out all our problems as unimportant. With everything that happened, we just wanted to be together." Lindsay paused, looking through Justin's sketches. "We thought love was the only thing that mattered."

"Always a mistake." Quip ignored, Brian prompted, "and…"

"We were wrong." Lindsay closed her eyes, shaking her head softly. "The pressure of the move, finding work - we started to fight."

She paused, remembering. "They got nastier each time. We started throwing all that unimportant history in each other's faces. The problems didn't go away just because we said they did. They were still there, buried under the rubble left by the bombing, waiting to resurface."

Brian's eyes tracked Lindsay's movements. "The bombing made us all go a little crazy for a while."

Lindsay sat down on the couch, leaning back with her eyes closed. "It's gotten to the point where we fight more than we talk. Two days ago, the kids got front row seats. It was awful." Lindsay looked at Brian, "I finally couldn't take it anymore. I packed up, rented a car and left around four o'clock this morning. It's over."

Brian sat down next to Lindsay, putting an arm around her as she continued.

"Brian, I have to start all over again. I still have some money from the sale of the house, but no job, no place to stay. Coming home to Pittsburgh was the only thing that made any sense to me." Lindsay sighed. "At least you'll get to see Gus all the time."

"Not all the time." Brian's wry expression said it all. "Fate has a nasty sense of humor. You come back and I move."

"What?" Lindsay sat up to look at Brian.

"Coming soon to a town not near you - the opening of Kinnetics' New York branch."

As the implications of the statement hit her, Lindsay started laughing at the irony. "Fuck." She collapsed back on the couch.

"I couldn't have said it better myself," Brian agreed.

He leaned his head in to touch hers. "It'll be okay, Wendy. The lost boys will help."

"Thanks Peter." Lindsay sat, enjoying the comfort for a minute.

After a few minutes, she gave him a smile. "Well, I'm glad you're going, Brian. You two should be together and Justin needs to be there. It's the center of the art world." Lindsay sat up, a look of dawning revelation on her face. She repeated slowly. "It's the center of the art world." She looked at Brian with an expectant "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"How the hell would I know?" Brian's puzzled expression was overlooked by Lindsay as she got caught up in her own thoughts.

"My parents won't be happy." Lindsay stood and continued speaking softly. "So what else is new? I can't worry about them."

Brian watched Lindsay with concern as she walked slowly around the apartment, talking to herself.

"If Mel comes back, I won't see her." She frowned at the thought. "On the other hand, it'd be a clean break. No possibility of getting back together."

Lindsay completely ignored Brian's confusion as she weighed pros and cons on her way to a decision.

"If Mel comes back, JR will be with her. I won't see her either. Not good." Lindsay paused, brow furrowed. "Well, she'll have Michael and Ben and Grandma Deb. She'll be fine."

"Linds…" Brian interrupted. "Are you losing it?"

"There's really nothing tying me to Pittsburgh." Lindsay continued thinking out loud.

Brian got up and stood right in front of her, grabbing her by the shoulders and giving her a hard look. "Do I need to call the paramedics?"

"What?" Lindsay looked into Brian's eyes, startled. "Brian what are you talking about?"

"You're wandering around in circles babbling to yourself. Thought I'd save myself the drive and call the ambulance to take you to the asylum." He paused until he was sure she was listening. "Lindsay, what is going on?"

"I think I've solved it, Peter."

"And what have you solved, Wendy?"

"What I'm going to do next! It's all going to be okay."

"Oh? Why's that?"

"We're going to Never-Never-Land." Lindsay replied with a smirk.

Brian shook his head. "I'll just get the phone, make that call."

Lindsay grinned as she laid it out for him. "Gus and I are moving to New York."

For the first time in years, Brian Kinney was shocked almost speechless. "Fuck me."

"Been there. Done that." Lindsay Peterson responded with a quirky smile before continuing.

"Why don't we try something new? Let's be neighbors."