Author's Note: Thanks so much for all the comments! Much appreciated. .
It was as if Brian's presence had drained all the life out of the room, though of course it had to be my imagination. All the other patrons were continuing their conversations, drinking their drinks, eating their lunches, utterly unaware of what was going on at the counter. But to me it felt amazingly silent as Brian and Justin looked each other in the eyes for the first time in I wasn't even sure how long. Yes, Justin had been back to Pittsburgh for my birthday, and the first Thanksgiving after his departure, but Brian had been out of town for the former, and barely present at all at the latter.
Long seconds ticked by until Hunter, who had never really been all that good at holding his tongue, turned to me. "What are they doing," he stage-whispered.
I shrugged. "I'm not sure," I murmured back. "I think this is one of their things that they do. Stare at each other until someone makes them stop."
"Well, do you mind? It's weirding me out."
But luckily it didn't fall to me. Justin blinked, then flicked his gaze over to meet mine. "Tell me what's going on," he instructed softly.
I wanted to give him an answer, I really did. He'd been my best friend for so long, and like I said, I don't exactly enjoy lying. But I'd given my word, so my lips stayed glued together. Fucking Michael. He had to ruin everything.
"Daphne," Justin said, a little sharper this time.
I looked to Brian imploringly, wordlessly begging him to put me out of my misery. Another thirty seconds of the slightly terrifying glare on my best friend's face and I would be forced to make a run for it, leaving everyone to their own devices. Which, considering the fury reverberating off of Michael, would probably lead to a homicide.
Brian sighed. "Don't be mad at Daphne. It's not her fault."
"What's not her fault," Justin returned. "Can no one give me a fucking straight answer here?"
"I missed you."
The words hung in the air, and this time I was pretty sure it wasn't in my head that the tension in the room changed slightly. Justin's expression softened (he really is just a big huge romantic on the inside) and he moved toward Brian.
"I missed you too," he answered quietly.
The corners of Brian's lips turned up in a way that was familiar even to me. That had always been one of Justin's special Brian-specific powers: to make the man smile even when he didn't want to. But as Justin went to lay his hands on Brian's arms, Brian quickly stepped back.
"And, as I missed you, I acted in some ways that certain people-" He glanced at Michael. "Thought were a little extreme."
"Extreme how?"
I felt a certain amount of sympathy for Brian, so I answered this particular question myself. "It's not a big deal, Justin. There were drugs - which, as I'm sure you remember, isn't exactly out of the ordinary."
"Okay," Justin said slowly. "So, there were drugs. Big deal. I have some of my own in my suitcase."
Hunter and I snorted simultaneously.
"And," Michael prompted angrily, his dark eyes focusing on mine.
And now it was my turn to exchange a look with Brian. No, this next act of desperation wasn't high on his list of shining moments, I was quite sure. But I knew that it couldn't come from Michael - Brian or I would have to step up.
"And a car accident," I blurted. Like a fucking band-aid. "There was a car accident. Everyone was fine . . . I mean, you know, obviously, since we're all standing here."
"What kind of car accident?" Justin looked extremely ill-at-ease, as though he sort of had a feeling about what was coming, what had caused the accident. "What happened?"
Shit. At that moment I really could have buried my head in my hands, but I figured that it would probably look a little guilty. How could I, or even Brian, explain what exactly had transpired that evening to Justin's satisfaction? One minute I had been sitting at a red light on Queen St., and the next -
Brian glanced at me. "I . . . I had been drinking. I knew I shouldn't be driving." He paused, rubbed the back of his neck. "But I was. And when I came to the corner of Liberty and Queen . . ." He cleared his throat awkwardly. "I didn't notice, I guess, that the light was red. Or that there was a car in front of me. And I rear-ended Daphne."
I chanced another look at Justin, then felt my mouth dry up. I'd never seen him so stricken. His face was pale - well, paler than usual - and his eyebrows were up at his hairline.
"I didn't even break," Brian added, so quietly that it was almost impossible to hear.
I felt Hunter stiffen beside me, but I couldn't move my eyes from Justin's face. This was exactly what I had been hoping would never come up, something Justin would be better off not knowing.
"She broke her arm." And it was Michael who was talking now, but at least he seemed to have found a way to calm himself. I supposed Brian's transparent guilt was enough to rein in his temper. "And had to get some stitches in her hand."
And it was like a spell was being lifted from Justin. He turned to me, his eyes positively flashing, and I couldn't stop myself from taking an unsteady step backwards. "You broke you arm," he demanded, a myriad of emotions passing across his face. "You were in a car accident with Brian, and you broke your arm." His jaw clenched. "Show me your stitches."
"I'm really going to kill you," I muttered to Michael, though I was fairly certain that Hunter was the only one that heard. I extended my right hand, palm up, and it was hard to miss the two small white lines, about an inch in length, below my thumb. Justin eyed them in silence. "Don't be mad," I told my best friend. "It was just an accident."
And he turned around and left.
"Shit," I gasped, then I started to follow him. But I stopped before I reached the door, and walked back to Michael, with my index finger pointing at him with an accusatory glare. "You," I gave him my most withering stare, "are on my list."
It didn't take long to locate Justin, who seemed to have lost the fight in him, and was wandering aimlessly along Liberty Ave. He had to hear my approach, what with my wheezing and gasping for breath (What do you want me to say? I'm not a runner.) but he didn't turn.
"Justin," I forced out, "please, can't we talk about this?"
"You lied to me!" He spun around, and met my eyes. "You lied. Every fucking day, for a year. You didn't tell me any of this! You let me come back here without any indignation at all as to what I was getting myself into! You let me think that this whole thing was going to be simple -"
"It is simple," I interjected. "The fundamentals haven't changed. Brian loves you, and he always has."
"And he hit my best friend with a car!"
"It was an accident!"
"You kept a secret with him!"
"Justin-"
"What else?"
I blinked at the sudden change in his tone, and tried to understand. "What?"
"What else are you not telling me?" I didn't like that he felt that he had to ask this. I also didn't like that I had an answer.
"Well . . ." At least this would seem miniscule compared to everything else. "There is just one other thing."
He crossed his arms over his chest, and I found myself marveling at how one change in his demeanor effected his entire body. "What? Did you fuck Michael? Murder Emmett?"
"No. I dated Hunter."
There. You know, all things considered I did feel significantly better. At least, I told myself while I waited for his reaction, everything was out in the open. There were no more surprises to unleash on Justin when he least suspected it. And regardless of how angry he was with me, with all of us, he had to forgive. It was in his DNA. Well, except when it came to Ethan, but personally, I always thought he was sort of looking for a reason to ditch that kid anyway.
"Justin, say something," I snapped, when I couldn't take his stoic silence for one more minute.
And to my immense relief, he began to laugh.
"You dated Hunter," he asked me, once his chortling had died down. "You have to be kidding."
I found myself grinning as well. "I'm not kidding." I gave him a light push and, with a massive eye-roll, he gently pushed me back.
"So, how did that happen," he asked. I couldn't help but notice that he had stopped and we were still within eyeshot of Liberty Diner. I had to keep myself from rolling my own eyes.
As I opened my mouth to answer, a movement by the diner door caught my attention. A tall, thin, brown-haired guy was stepping inside, and as he turned I saw his face. Then I smiled brightly at Justin. "You wanna talk about Hunter," I asked, already making my way back to Liberty Diner. "Or you wanna meet Owen?"