Brian wakes up the morning of his 'cow-tipping' adventure a little ' 'tipsy' himself; Still stinging over Brian's rejection of him, Jared uses Emmett's arrival to hatch a plot to break up Brian and Justin's budding relationship.

Morning - 6:00 a.m.

At first Brian thought the clanging noise he was hearing was coming from inside his head, but after several seconds he finally realized it was actually coming from the old fashioned, Big Ben clock ringing beside his bed. Groaning in disbelief that it was time to get up already, he turned on his side just enough to reach over and slam his palm down onto the top of the clock to quiet it; picking it up, he flung it violently across the room for good measure.

Struggling to rise from the bed, he clamped his head between his hands as he sat up with his back against the headboard, trying desperately to clear the fogginess from his brain. He had a bitch of a headache, too - no doubt brought on by the moonshine he had sampled, well more than sampled last night. That, and the fact that he hadn't gotten into bed until 2:00 a.m.

"Fuck," he muttered as he finally managed to twist his body around and place his bare feet on the cold, wooden floor. Taking a few moments to try and calm the pounding in his head, he shuffled over in his briefs toward the bedroom door and out into the hallway to head toward the bathroom, hoping like hell that his aunt and uncle stocked some extra-strength aspirin in their medicine cabinet. He didn't pause to consider how much he had changed since he had come to live here - before he would have just stayed in bed until he damned well pleased, hoping to sleep off his hangover; now here he was at 6 am., plodding into the bathroom to take a shower before he went out to do his chores. When had he actually started caring about taking hold of his responsibilities?

Emerging from a hot shower fifteen minutes later, Brian felt somewhat better, but quickly downed the three aspirin he had thankfully found in the porcelain medicine cabinet with a generous cup of water, hoping that along with the shower it would ease the throbbing in his temples.

Arriving in the kitchen soon afterward, his uncle peered over at him curiously as he put the seed catalog he was perusing down on the table. "What happened to you?" he asked bluntly. "You look like death warmed over."

Brian collapsed into the chair on the other end as Sarah walked up and poured him a cup of coffee from the old-fashioned percolator she still used. "I feel like it, too," he admitted. But he wasn't about to confess that he had been out late last night boozing it up with Justin. Somehow the tenuous truce he had managed to obtain between him and his uncle didn't provide him with enough confidence to believe that he would look too kindly upon what he had done. Instead, he sought out another explanation that would make sense. "I get migraines sometimes, and had one last night. Still have it, in fact." There, that sounded good, he thought to himself.

"Oh, that's too bad," Sarah cooed at him sympathetically as she placed the coffeepot down on a potholder and took her place next to Brian. "Is there some kind of medicine I can get for you? My father used to get those sometimes, too; he always said if he lay down in a quiet, dark room it helped to ease the pain. Maybe you shouldn't work outside today; it's supposed to be sunny, and I hear that can make it worse."

To his surprise, Brian heard his uncle say gruffly, "Maybe that would be best." Did he actually hear that right? Was his uncle really concerned about his well-being? To his amazement, that thought actually made him feel a little guilty.

"No," he mumbled softly. "It's okay. I took some aspirin earlier that I found upstairs in the medicine cabinet. That should help. I'll still do my chores."

Sarah eyed him thoughtfully as Will nodded. Rising from his chair, Will leaned down unexpectedly to give Sarah a quick peck on the cheek as she flushed in pleasure at the gesture. "I'll be out in the barn, then, feeding the animals. Make sure Brian eats before he joins me; it's not a good idea to take medicine on an empty stomach." Walking over to grab his favorite baseball cap off a hook located near the back door, he opened the squeaky screen door and disappeared, the lightweight door banging behind him.

"Oatmeal with fresh blueberries and some homemade wheat toast okay for today?" Sarah asked as Brian nodded with a slight smile of gratitude.

"Yeah, that's fine," he told her as he took a large sip of his black coffee, not caring at the moment that there was no sugar in it. He just wanted something, anything, to help quell the feeling of miniature jackhammers still clanging around in his head.

Sarah nodded as she walked over to the stove where she already had the oatmeal warming on a front burner. Ladling up a generous amount of the sticky, hot cereal, she grabbed two pieces of her homemade wheat bread that had been pre-sliced before Brian came down and popped them into the toaster. Placing the oatmeal down in front of her nephew a few seconds later, she pushed the small bowl of fresh blueberries over toward him as he smiled at the irony.

"Those look vaguely familiar," he told her dryly as she grinned back at him. He reached over to spoon some on top of his cereal and sprinkle some sugar on top from a glass jar with holes in it before he closed his eyes and placed his fingers back on his temples. The pain had abated somewhat, but it was still quite extreme. He had learned his lesson - between falling off the damn fence last night and imbibing in way too much corn liquor, he felt like shit. The only redeeming part of the night had been spending time with Justin, although that hadn't quite gone the way he had hoped, either. And why did he have this nagging feeling that he had been singing, for fuck's sake? Surely he had merely dreamed that up.

"Are you sure you're up to doing your chores this morning?" Sarah asked quietly in concern. Brian was normally quite meticulous in the way he dressed in a sort of 'bad-boy confronts the farm' manner. Today, however, there were distinct bags under his eyes, his hair was mussed up like he hadn't combed it in days, and his clothes looked like the same ones he had worn yesterday. Of course, her husband, who would never have been considered a fashion plate by any means, apparently hadn't even noticed.

Brian nodded as he slowly opened his eyes. "Yeah, I'll be okay," he told her as he stared over at her thoughtfully. There was just something about this woman that made him do things he would have never thought of doing before. "Aunt Sarah?"

"Yes, Brian?" she asked, her brow furrowing in curiosity. She thought her nephew looked decidedly confused, hesitant or both.

"I have a confession to make."

Sarah lifted an eyebrow. "Oh? Okay." Whatever it was, she fervently hoped it wasn't something bad; she felt that Brian had just now started becoming more comfortable living with them. The last thing she wanted to hear was that he was in some kind of trouble again.

Brian sighed. "I do have a hell of a, uh,...a really bad headache," he corrected himself as she nodded, thinking that was the confession, although Brian had already told her that. "...But it's not because I have a migraine."

She eyed him in surprise. "It's not?" Brian shook his head as he gazed down at his quickly-cooling oatmeal; he hadn't touched a bite yet. "Then why did you say that it was?" She crooked one side of her mouth up in epiphany just then, as it came to her; of course. "Because you didn't want your uncle to know the real reason."

Brian inhaled a deep breath to calm himself before he blew it back out between his parted lips. He nodded.

"So what IS the real reason, Brian?"

"Well, you remember yesterday when you asked me to put all those berries in the freezer downstairs?" Sarah nodded. "Well, I did a little exploring, and I opened up that old, white metal cabinet down there."

Sarah frowned. "You mean that rusty old thing in the corner?" Brian nodded. "It's been so long since I've opened that I don't even remember what's in there."

"You don't?"

Sarah shook her head. "Last I recall Will was going to store some old canning jars in there that we don't use anymore. They were the pint-size ones, and I always can with the quart-size jars now. Is that what you found?" She still had no idea what this had to with Brian's headache.

Brian hesitated. "Well...I found glass containers in there, all right, but they sure didn't have green beans or corn in them - at least not the solid type of corn, anyway." He looked over at her meaningfully for several seconds until Sarah's face lit up with realization.

"No..." she murmured in shock as her face turned pale.

Brian frowned. "Aunt Sarah? Are you okay?"

"He told me he was going to destroy those," she whispered painfully. "Will...why did you lie to me?"

"I don't understand," Brian told her in confusion. "It was just some corn liquor - at least that's what Justin told me it was last night."

Sarah was the one who frowned now as Brian's words sunk in. "Justin? What does this have to do with Justin?"

Brian averted his eyes in awkwardness and idly stirred his spoon in his oatmeal as he admitted, "That's the other part I needed to tell you about. I...I took two bottles of the liquor out of the cabinet and brought them upstairs to try later. I hid them in the broom closet in the hall. Once you and Uncle Will went to bed, I came downstairs and took them out and walked outside to try a sip. One taste led to another and another...until I came up with the idea to go pay Justin a call." Shit, he thought as he grimaced over his choice of words. Now I'm even starting to SOUND like one of them!

Sarah covered her mouth with her hand so Brian wouldn't see her smiling over that statement. She had the feeling all along that Brian was falling for the young man; that pretty much just cinched it in her opinion. Her nephew seemed to be bringing his name up quite a bit lately. "Well, I know moonshine can make you do some things you might not otherwise do," she told him diplomatically. "What happened?"

Brian shrugged as he met her gaze. "Nothing much. We walked up to the cow pasture and sat on top of the fence for a while and talked. Oh, and I tried my hand at some cow-tipping." He wasn't about to admit to her about the kiss he and Justin had shared, or that he might have been singing, though; he honestly wasn't sure he had done that even, but he remembered the cow-tipping part of his adventure quite vividly. "I found out that steers aren't very playful."

Sarah's eyes threatened to burst out of their sockets. "You what?! Brian, you can't tip a cow, especially a steer! That's dangerous!"

Brian harrumphed. "Yeah, Justin told me the same thing. But I had to find out for myself the hard way." He grinned over at her ruefully. "Liquor kind of loosens up your inhibitions."

Sarah had to laugh at that statement. "Yeah, I know." Brian looked at her in shock as his aunt shrugged. "Hey, I was young once, too, you know." She peered over at her nephew; she had to know. "Brian, you didn't do anything with Justin last night that you - or I - would regret, did you?"

Brian's eyes flashed in irritation; he was unable to hold back the profanity. How long would he have to prove himself? "Shit, Aunt Sarah! What kind of person do you think I am?" He realized that it was important to him that his aunt be proud of him, not ashamed.

Sarah reached over to place her hand on Brian's wrist. "Brian, listen to me," she whispered soothingly in an attempt to placate him. "I think when you came here you were a very troubled young man who needed guidance. And I think you've changed a lot since you've been here. I think you've done a lot of growing up. But I also think you're a very headstrong and passionate person. One that is used to getting what he wants. And I think you are infatuated with that boy. Am I not right?" She lifted a brow meaningfully as she stared into his eyes without blinking.

"Maybe," he grudgingly admitted as she nodded. He shook his head. "But I would never do something with him that he didn't want me to do. And, besides, he's really too young for me...We don't have that much at all in common..."

Sarah chuckled softly. "You think love is that logical, Brian?"

Brian eyed her incredulously. "Who said anything about love?" he snorted. "I hardly know him."

"I agree," she replied softly. "And you should definitely take things slowly. I'm not saying you're in love with him, Brian. I think it's way too soon for that, too, and he's very young. But when it comes to being attracted to someone, rationality has a habit of flying out the window." She squeezed his wrist as he looked over at her. "Justin is very special, Brian. I'm not surprised that you've figured that out, too."

Brian sighed; there wasn't any point in denying it any longer. "But isn't he too young for me?" he insisted, not sure what exactly he wanted his aunt to say.

To his surprise, however, his aunt smiled over at him and shook her head. "Will and I fell in love when I was Justin's age, and Will is ten years older than me; that's not that uncommon out here. Oh, don't get me wrong; we spent time getting to know each other and didn't act on our feelings for quite a while. But do I think it's impossible to fall in love at your age? No, I think it depends on the person. Look at Will and me. We've been through some rough times, but we've managed to stay together through the good times and the bad. Just take things slowly with him. He has his whole life ahead of him and he needs to find his own path."

"That's part of the problem," Brian found himself confessing, aware that if he didn't get outside to do his chores soon his uncle would come looking for him.

Sarah frowned as she moved her hand to take a sip of her coffee as she eyed him curiously. "What do you mean?"

"Justin's father treats him like shit," he growled. "The other day he told me about wanting to attend Vanderbilt University to take equestrian therapy classes, but he feels like he can't go now because of how much his family depends on him to win all those races. And his brother is a lazy, good-for-nothing bum." Brian rubbed his face with his hands. "And...And what good would it do, anyway, to get attached to him even if he DID stay here? I won't be here after summer's over."

Sarah bit her lip, trying not to tear up over the mournful tone in Brian's voice. Yes, Joan was her sister, but she had her doubts that she was providing this boy with what he needed: love, reassurance, purpose, and responsibility, of which he was slowly discovering here. "Is that what you want, Brian? To go back home to Pittsburgh?"

Brian hurriedly downed the rest of his now-cold coffee; his headache had finally died down to a tolerable level now. "I don't have a choice...Do I?" His voice was both sad but also hopeful as he looked over at her meaningfully.

Sarah chose to ignore the hopeful tone in Brian's voice for now, not wanting to call him out on it and make him embarrassed or promise him something that perhaps she couldn't deliver. Any decision to let her nephew stay here would have to come from Joan and Jack, as well as her husband. She thought she could actually persuade Will to let Brian stay longer than his legal requirements stated, provided that he kept up with his chores and found a job eventually, but she couldn't speak for his parents. She smiled over at him tenderly. "You never know," she finally whispered. "We'll talk about it later, okay? I'm sure your uncle's expecting you by now."

Brian nodded. Just before he rose from his seat, he asked her, "Aunt Sarah, what did you mean a little while ago when you said that Uncle Will had lied to you about the liquor? Justin told me that it belonged to Dale."

Sarah looked away from Brian, gazing out through the back, frilly-curtained window that overlooked the barn. How many times had she done this very same thing when she had been looking for her son? Even now, she could almost see him running toward the back door, Solomon close by his heels as they hurried in for supper. She brushed the moisture away from her eye with an index finger as she felt Brian's hand on her shoulder.

"Aunt Sarah?"

She turned to bestow a watery smile on him and nodded. "Yes, it did." She smiled wistfully. "He always did have a rebellious streak in him - kind of like you," she added as she peered over at Brian tenderly. She wiped a couple of tears away from her eyes with the corner of her half-apron. "Sorry about the waterworks," she whispered. "It's just that Dale's birthday is coming up soon, and that always gets me a little weepier than normal." Brian eyed her quietly for a few seconds before she explained, "After Dale died, I asked Will to get rid of all that liquor downstairs. He promised me he would. But obviously he didn't do it."

"Why do you think he didn't?"

Sarah shrugged. "A couple of reasons, I guess. First, after he died, he didn't want to have anything to do with Dale's belongings. You know, your bedroom was kept locked and closed until you came, because it used to be our son's."

Brian nodded. He had figured as much already, since it was the only other bedroom in the house.

His aunt took a deep breath before she added sadly, "Before you came, when he wasn't outside doing chores Will spent a lot of time down in the basement for no apparent reason, and when he came back up he always avoided me." She let out a ragged breath. "I think it was because he'd been drinking to help him forget the pain, even though he normally wouldn't touch the stuff."

Brian couldn't help feeling sorry for his aunt. "I'm sorry, Aunt Sarah." He reached over to clasp her hand in his and give it a squeeze as she smiled back at him gratefully.

She shook her head slightly in dismissal. "It's okay, Brian. Actually, I haven't seen him doing that lately thanks to you; despite what he says, I think you've been a good influence on him and he enjoys your company. I think he missed having another male around the farm."

Brian snorted. "You mean one to boss around."

Sarah grinned. "Maybe. At first. He didn't know quite what to think when you first showed up; neither of us did," she admitted. "But I think there's more to it than that now." She patted his hand with hers as she advised, "Now you'd best get out there before he comes looking for you and the beast reappears."

He nodded with a knowing smile as he stood up. He tried to sound nonchalant as he asked her in parting, "We're still going tonight to the social? I mean, will you need me to help you carry some of your baked goods out to the truck later and carry them in?" By the look of amusement on his aunt's face, though, he knew he wasn't fooling her about the real reason why he wanted to make sure they were going.

To her credit, though, his aunt merely smiled and nodded wisely, pretending there wasn't any more to his request than thoughtfulness. "That would be nice, Brian. Yes. We'll be leaving around six-thirty."

Brian nodded as he walked over to the door to open it, finding he was looking forward to seeing a certain, blond neighbor once more this evening. It would certainly make his day go a lot quicker now.

Same Time - Taylor Farm Stables

"Justin!" An excited, high-pitched squeal sounded as Justin turned around to look for the source. He smiled as he recognized the teenage boy waving at him frantically from Vic's mobile home several yards away, taking a moment to finish unhitching Headstrong from the sulky and taking his gloves off to place them on the seat before he turned to greet him.

"Em!" Justin called out in delight as Vic's nephew came rushing up to him and swept him up into a big bear hug. Emmett almost squeezed the breath out of him before his feet were able to touch the ground again.

"Vic told us you were coming back to visit for a few weeks! How have you been?" he asked with a grin, unable to keep from admiring Emmett's quirky style of dress. Today he was wearing a pale pink bowtie, a slate blue, swirled paisley, long-sleeved shirt with the cuffs rolled up, dark blue jeans with a big "E" silver belt buckle, and what appeared to be cranberry-colored alligator boots.

"You like them?" Emmett asked Justin as he noticed his friend peering down at his boots curiously. "Had 'em dyed that color. I like to tell people that I caught an alligator back home in the cranberry bogs, though; gets them every time."

Justin burst out laughing at his comment. He was glad Emmett was here for a while; he was always so good at taking his mind off other things when he was worried or stressed, two emotions he was feeling in abundance lately. "You have a lot of alligators back home in Alabama?" he asked with an amused smile.

Emmett grasped his upper arm as he leaned in to whisper conspiratorially, "Honey, they have so many in the marshes back home they should start issuing licenses like they do for the dogs. People run over them all the time; the damn things just sit in the middle of the highway like they're logs. They're nasty critters, but they're not too smart. They make for great fritters, though."

Justin crinkled his nose. "You've eaten one? What do they taste like?"

"Chicken. Lots and lots of chicken."

"Really?"

Emmett nodded.

Justin giggled. "Well, I don't think Colonel Sanders has anything to worry about up here." Emmett grinned back at him as Justin asked, "You're going to be here for a couple of weeks?"

Emmett nodded as he glanced over at the sulky. "Yeah. Training for the next race? Uncle Vic said there's a big one this weekend."

Justin nodded. "Yeah, at Red Mill." He smiled proudly. "Headstrong's the odds-on favorite to win from what the paper said this morning." Not surprisingly, his father had pointed that out first thing at the breakfast table; the sports page was the first section he looked at with his morning coffee, even before the agricultural news. His father may not have had much luck finding accounting jobs around here, but he was NOT a stupid man; he certainly knew where his bread was buttered at the moment.

"Something wrong, Sweetie?"

Justin blinked, unaware that he had temporarily zoned out as he turned to eye his friend sheepishly. "No, sorry; I just get a little preoccupied just before a big race." He smiled at him reassuringly. "Everything's fine. I'm glad you're here for a visit, Em," he told him sincerely. "You're going tonight, aren't you?"

"To the social?"

Justin nodded.

"Are you kidding? And miss that superb pecan pie that always there? My mouth's been watering for it ever since I got on the plane to come up here." He leaned in closer to Justin as he looked around to make sure they were alone. "And speaking of mouthwatering, where's that delectable big brother of yours? I haven't seen him around yet."

Justin couldn't help rolling his eyes. "He'd still have his ass in bed if he wasn't responsible for doing my chores this week," he growled. "He's not too happy about it, either, but our father put his foot down and forced him."

Emmett, however, didn't seem too concerned about Justin's veiled comment regarding his brother's lack of productivity; it seems that love truly was blind. "Is he out in the barn, then?" Emmett asked hopefully.

Justin bit back the sigh that threatened to escape his lips. "Well, he'd better be, unless he wants our father to be pissed off at him." He actually felt sorry for Emmett as his friend looked over at him with a decidedly pleased smile on his face. He nodded. "He should be over there feeding the animals and cleaning out the stalls if you want to go say hello to him."

Emmett nodded, his eyes alit with anticipation. "Well, I think I'll just wander over that direction, then," he replied, trying to sound nonchalant. He pulled at the ends of his bowtie as he asked, "Is he going tonight, too?"

Justin did sigh sympathetically now. Poor Em. He knew Jared wasn't the least bit interested in Emmett, even though the boy was sweet, funny, and attractive. He wasn't HIS type - even though he did make him laugh - but he still hated to see him fruitlessly waste his time trying to get his brother's attention. Jared had made no bones before about how he thought Emmett's fascination with him was a bother and a nuisance, and he wasn't subtle about ridiculing him over the dinner table after he came to visit his uncle the last time. He was afraid Emmett was going to get hurt, but it was like a train wreck he was unable to stop.

"I think so," he finally told his friend as Emmett smiled in reaction. "Mom and dad always make sure we all go together as a family." Jared normally spent the entire time at the social grousing about how juvenile and hokey the whole event was, while at the same time scoping out potential guys to fuck out back behind the main activities barn. His brother's cavalier treatment of other guys at the social was disgusting in his opinion, but he was helpless to do anything about it, just the same as he was going to be helpless to prevent what he assumed was going to happen with Emmett. Maybe if the boy was lucky, though, Jared would give him the heave ho quickly so he didn't spend the rest of his time here pining for him like he did the last time.

"Well, I think I'll mosey over to the barn and say hey to him, then," Em decided with a smile. "Think he'll like this outfit?" He turned around slowly to give Justin a 180-degree view.

"Em..." Justin began hesitantly, not quite sure what he was going to say.

"Yeah?"

Justin paused; was it his place to interfere? Besides, what exactly could he say? Jared's going to break your heart? He thinks you're a buffoon and not worthy of his attention? He laughs at you behind your back? No, he couldn't do that; he couldn't hurt this sensitive, sweet boy, even though he suspected Jared might wind up doing precisely that. "Nothing," he finally said with a smile. "I'm just glad you're here," he told him sincerely. "It's good to see you again."

Em wondered if there was more that Justin was about to say, but he decided to just let it drop for now as he smiled back at him. "You, too, Justin. Catch you later?"

Justin nodded. "Yeah; I have to do some more practicing, but I'm sure I'll see you tonight." Em nodded as he turned and hurried off toward the barn; Justin watched him actually skipping along the way like a little child about to go see his favorite pony. He shook his head sadly; he couldn't imagine this ending well at all.

A few minutes later, however, he had hitched Headstrong back up to the sulky and was back out on the track for some more practice, his concerns temporarily pushed aside.

"Fuck!" Jared snarled as he reared back his arm and flung the stinky shovel in his hand toward the corner of the barn; one of their goats nearby bleated in fright over in his stall as Jared plopped down, cross-legged style, on top of the dirt floor in utter disgust. If he had to shovel one more load of manure this morning, he was definitely going to puke. He didn't even have his latest stash of weed anymore that he could use to calm him down, either, thanks to the Kinney boy snatching it from him. Damn him and his brother!

He was still not only seething over being humiliated the other day, but dismayed and angered by what he had seen last night. He wasn't used to his baby brother taking guys away from him, but for whatever reason Kinney seemed to have fallen for him. And his attempt to pay Justin back for what he had done had fallen on deaf ears last night. There was no way he was just going to take it lying down; that wasn't his way. If I can't have you, Kinney, well, then, neither can the squirt, either.

Just then, he heard a slight noise by the open barn doors, and his face broke out into a pleased smile. Perfect timing...

"Em!" he called out, striving to place as much excitement as he could into his voice as he waved at the other boy. "I was HOPING I would see you today!" Jared cried out in apparent delight as he wiped his hands on the thighs of his jeans and rose to stand as Emmett came walking up to him. He had to force himself not to grimace at the other boy's choice of clothing: a PINK bowtie and matching crocodile boots? Hideous.

"You were?" Emmett stammered, thinking Jared was even better looking since the last time he had seen him. He seemed to have grown another inch or two, also, and was currently dressed in a pair of well-worn, tight, faded, blue jeans that showed off his trim waist, and a lightweight, sky-blue cotton shirt with the sleeves rolled up that exposed his muscular forearms. He had some sweat on his forehead from working, and his shirt was unbuttoned a few buttons at the top to show off his pecs; in brief, it was a totally amazing look that made Emmett's pulse quicken in reaction.

Jared smiled seductively as he walked up to Emmett and lazily stroked an index finger down the middle of Emmett's shirt. "You bet," he told him huskily as he continued to smile. "When your Uncle Vic told me you would be coming back here, I couldn't wait to see you again."

Emmett frowned as he pointed out, "That's funny - you barely paid any attention to me at all when I came to visit last year."

Jared looked shocked. "No, that's not right at all! How could you think that? You didn't understand what I was doing. Haven't you ever heard of playing hard to get? It's not cool for my reputation if I go chasing after someone."

Emmett snorted. "Well, if you'd played it any better you would have been up for an Oscar."

Jared pressed his body up against Emmett's until they were practically nose to nose with their nearly identical heights. "Well, there's nobody to see us around here now, and I'm not running away, am I?" He placed his hands on Emmett's upper arms as he leaned in to kiss the other boy's lips gently in greeting before pulling back. "We'll have two whole weeks to get to know each other better this time," he leered, his voice seductive and low. "I'd really like that; wouldn't you?"

Emmett's eyes widened as his face broke out into a pleased smile. "Is my Aunt Lula a Southern Belle? You bet I would!"

Jared's hands snaked up to wind themselves around Emmett's neck as he smiled. "Good." His face fell and he sighed heavily, however, as he abruptly let go of Emmett and turned his back on him to look out through the barn doors; off in the distance, he could see Kinney riding around on the Walker's old tractor doing some sort of chore, and his eyes narrowed in jealousy as he thought about what he had seen last night. It was time to start putting his plan into motion. "There's just one thing..."

Emmett's face took on a look of concern as he noticed Jared's sudden change in mood. "What?"

Jared turned around; his face was awash with anxiety. "I'm really worried about my little brother."

"Justin? What about him? I just talked to him over by the stables and he seemed fine to me."

"Did he tell you about that other boy who's staying with the Walkers? Their nephew, Brian?"

Emmett shook his head. "No, he didn't say anything about him."

That's a surprise, Jared couldn't help thinking. They certainly seemed chummy enough last night. Aloud, he advised Emmett, "He's about the same age that we are. His parents sent him here to stay with the Walkers as a last resort, and he's been nothing but trouble since then."

Emmett didn't like the sound of that; he really cared about Justin - not in a physical attraction sort of way like he did with Jared - but he genuinely liked the Taylor's younger son and hated the idea of something happening to him. There was just something about Justin that made everyone naturally protective toward him. "What kind of trouble?"

Jared fought to keep the smile from his face as he shrugged. "Well, apparently he stole a car back home and drag raced with it, and from what my dad told me he was given the choice of either going to jail or coming here to stay with his aunt and uncle. The idea was that they were supposed to help straighten him out." He grimaced. "Unfortunately for us, it hasn't worked out that way. As soon as he got here, he noticed how Justin was fawning over him, and he's been using it to his advantage ever since."

Emmett frowned. "How do you mean?"

Jared appeared to look uncomfortable as he walked over and sat down on a bale of straw. "You've got to promise me first that you won't tell Justin what I'm about to tell you, because if you do it could cause even more problems."

Emmett's eyes widened in alarm as he walked over to sit down next to Jared. "More problems? How?"

Jared's eyes flashed. "Promise me first," he demanded as Emmett finally nodded. "Well, Justin told me the other day that this Brian has been coming on too strongly with him; he keeps pressuring him to have sex, but Justin isn't ready yet." He paused as Emmett eyed him anxiously. "And he said last night when he refused him again, he grabbed him so hard by the arms that he put bruises on his skin."

Emmett's mouth fell open. "Oh, my God! Are you serious?" He thought back to his encounter a little earlier with his friend. He didn't notice anything particularly different with him, although there HAD been that one moment when he thought Justin was about to confide in him about something but had changed his mind. Did it have something to do with this other guy? The one that was hurting him? "Has he told your mom and dad? And what about the Walkers? He can't get away with that kind of shit!"

Jared reached over and grabbed onto Emmett's bicep. "Well, you know Justin. He's likes this guy, and doesn't want to get him into trouble; if this deal with the Walkers doesn't work out he'll be sent back to jail, so he begged me not to say anything to anyone. He said this Brian apologized profusely right after it happened, and he believes the guy! But you know how these kinds of relationships are; the one who's in danger always makes up excuses for the bad guy." Jared eyes bored into Emmett's as he pleaded, "I've got to find a way to break them up, Em, before he does something really bad to him."

Emmett nodded solemnly, his heart pounding in worry. "But what can we do? I still say you need to go talk to your parents - or to the Walkers."

Jared shook his head. "I gave him my word, Em. But maybe there's another way. That's where you come in, because Kinney doesn't know YOU. You are going to the social tonight, aren't you?"

Emmett nodded cautiously. "Yeah, I wouldn't miss it. Why?"

Jared smiled. This was way too easy..."Well, since Kinney's never met you, you're perfect for what I have in mind. Are you willing to help break them up, then? Before he does something awful to my brother? Em, you're my last hope," he added for good measure, his voice breaking.

Emmett swallowed hard, but nodded. "Sure. But how?"

Jared leaned in closer to his unsuspecting patsy. "Here's what I have in mind..."

A/N: I'm working on the next part of this now for the actual social. I should have that posted very soon before I move onto my next WIP. Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it.:) Thanks to my beta, boriqua522.