So Hunter left to go turn in our order, and the four of us eyed each other in silence. In theory this had been a good plan, but now that I was sitting there with Brian, his boyfriend, and his rather persistent ex, I was beginning to see real holes. Like the fact that though there may have been things I could say to each of them individually, topics that all the three would be interested in were somewhat limited. After all, they really only had one thing in common.

I cleared my throat to give myself something to do, then glanced over at Justin, who was staring unabashedly at Brian.

There's only so much discomfort a girl can take.

"So," I blurted, determined to find something we could all discuss that wouldn't turn into a competition, "I heard they're having some sort of Winter Festival at the Center next week." I turned to Brian. "You guys going?"

Brian laughed, and Owen and Justin smirked. Okay, this was a little annoying. But as Brian opened his mouth to give an answer, Owen interrupted.

"Brian doesn't do festivals," he told me. Then he glanced over at Justin, wordlessly challenging him to dispute that fact.

My best friend gave a bright smile that somehow managed to convey more malice than cheer. "Well, that's definitely true," he agreed smoothly. "Except when the Center is paying him."

"Oh, you're talking about the Carnival from a couple of years back," Owen acknowledged, as though he was afraid he would lose points for not getting the reference. "Yeah, he told me about that."

"Did he also tell you that just a couple of short weeks after we broke up that he came to me and asked me to paint the poster for the event?"

I rolled my eyes before catching Brian's and while it was quite possible that it was only my imagination, I thought I saw the tiniest of smiles light his features. But it vanished so quickly it was hard to be sure.

"Why yes, he did," Owen replied, with a deeply sarcastic grin of his own. "He also mentioned that you were only present for about five minutes. Had to get back to your boyfriend, right?"

There it was, a crack in Justin's facade, and I wasn't even surprised. After his and Ethan's relationship had crumbled, neither he nor Brian had ever mentioned the young violinist again - as though just saying his name would shake everything they had worked so hard to get through. The last thing Justin wanted was to be reminded of the pain that he had caused Brian, and certainly it wasn't one of Brian's favorite memories either.

I couldn't help wondering if Owen was pouring salt on this particular wound on purpose, though a quick look in his direction showed only a haughty, defensive glare; no traces of outright cruelty.

Nevertheless, intentional or not, his comment jerked Brian out of his calm indifference. Brian looked up sharply, and I tried to pretend that I didn't notice the way his jaw was clenched in unexpressed anger. It was kinda scary, actually, the darkness in his eyes that the mere mention of Ethan had created. I had a sudden, wild vision of him storming out in a fit of rage, but as quickly as the shadow came, it passed.

"So, Taylor," Brian said quietly, "are you just here visiting Daphne?" I heard the question in the question, and it was so painfully obvious that it seemed almost odd that neither of the boyfriends commented on it.

"Nope," Justin answered with a large amount of smugness. "Actually, I live here again."

The utter disbelief and, yeah, displeasure on Owen's face was almost comical. I bit hard into my lower lip to keep from laughing out loud, then flinched when I tasted blood. Great. Fucking great.

"You moved back," Owen choked out. I slid my eyes to Brian who was rather determinedly examining his newspaper. "You don't live in New York anymore?"

Justin made a point of looking at Owen as though he had never seen a bigger moron, which I thought was kind of mean, considering. "Right. I. Moved. Back." Then he turned to Brian. "This is who you replaced me-"

Luckily Hunter chose that moment to reappear with our drinks, and I knew I wasn't the only one breathing a sigh of relief at the interruption. Which was proven when Brian suddenly got to his feet. "Well, Daphne, Justin. This has been . . ." His voiced trailed away as he attempted to find an appropriate word. "Interesting. But Owen and I really need to be going. You know, places to see, people to do."

I decided not to point out that his boyfriend had ordered food which hadn't made it over to us yet. "Right," I replied, inwardly pleased that I had found an inoffensive word as well. "Well, I'm sure we'll see you around."

Justin smiled again, and this time it met his eyes. "I'm glad we ran into you," he told his ex sincerely. "And it was lovely meeting you, Owen," he added as an afterthought.

"Oh yeah," Owen muttered as the false-kindness melted away to unconcealed malevolence. "One of my top ten experiences."

And the pair of them disappeared.

Once they were gone, Justin turned to me and gave me a confused look. "I gotta say, I really didn't see that much of a resemblance between us."

I thought of the blatant one-upmanship, and the mutual determination to fight for Brian. "You're right. I don't know what I was thinking."