Two stubborn men square off regarding the wedding ring. What will be the result?
Instead of a knock-down, drag-out fight as the Doc had anticipated, the silence in the exam room where Xena had been attended to was deafening at the moment, neither man willing to back down from their position.
"So that's your last word on the subject?" Justin finally asked him tersely, his hands now on his hips as his eyes bored into his partner's.
"I'm a man of few words," Brian told him, his arms crossed over his own chest now. "So when I say something, I mean it."
Justin continued to stare over at him for a few moments, his lips pressed tightly together, before he finally nodded. "Fine."
Brian's left brow raised. That was way too easy, so he knew something was amiss. "Fine? Fine as in...?"
"Fine as in Xena and I are heading back to Britin," Justin told him as he walked over to pick the puppy up, holding her firmly against his chest and realizing it wouldn't be long before he was unable to carry her anymore. "I'll tell Emmett and the others that there's not going to BE a wedding. You win." Without any further discussion, he turned around and headed toward the door.
"Wait a minute!" Brian called after him. "That's it? You're just going to leave with that...that jewelry-eating homewrecker?"
"What's the point of staying?" Justin replied with a shrug. "You've made your opinion crystal clear, and so have I." He shifted his weight slightly to balance the squirming bundle of fur in his arms. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a dog to follow around for the next several hours. Maybe I can at least pawn the ring after it's been cleaned." Continuing to struggle at holding Xena in his arms, he finally gave up and lowered her to the ground as he clipped a leash to her collar. "Come on, girl," he murmured.
Brian stood there in shock, his mouth hanging open as he watched his partner leaving. "We came together," he reminded him. "How am I supposed to get home?" That is, if he was welcome at home, he couldn't help thinking.
Justin turned around briefly to shrug. "You'll figure something out." He resumed his walk toward the door, leaving a stunned Brian staring back at him. "Maybe if you call him loud enough, Tricky will come running, and you can ride him home." He didn't stop to think that they had an audience nearby in the lobby, listening to every word, as he walked to the front door and opened it, his partner following along closely behind him and Xena.
Several seconds later, Brian watched from just outside the entrance as his now ex-fiancé opened the passenger side door and picked up Xena to let her in before he walked around to the driver's side.
"Justin! Don't be ridiculous! We need to talk about this! You're acting like a childish brat!" As soon as the last words flew out of his mouth, he knew that was a mistake; he could tell by the glare of death that was cast his way. "Well, it's true!" he insisted nonetheless. He huffed in exasperation. "That's it! Okay, then, go ahead! Just run away!"
Just as he figured, there were no more words forthcoming from his partner as Justin silently slid behind the driver's seat, slammed the door shut, and started the SUV.
Brian shook his head in disbelief. What had just happened here? "Shit," he muttered under his breath, watching as the vehicle disappeared from sight, leaving him standing there alone with only his righteous indignation for company. Brushing his hand through his hair, he sighed wearily as he heard the building's door open behind him. He turned to observe Doc Thompson standing a few feet away, eying him quietly. He wasn't sure if he was more perturbed by Justin's rather childish display previously, or the look of sympathy on the vet's face.
"What?" he barked, out of patience now. How did things progress to this point?
The older man held his hands up in supplication. "Nothing," he assured him hastily. "It's just that I was about to close up for the day...and I go by your home on the way, so I thought you might like a lift."
Brian continued to stew for a few more moments, watching as the vet's assistant opened the door and closed it behind her, taking a moment to wave to the doctor before heading over to her car to leave. He knew in this small town that there certainly was no cab service available, so what choice did he have? Justin certainly wasn't going to come back and get him - not when he was in one of his moods. And boy, was he in one THIS time. He nodded in surrender. "Yeah...okay. Thanks, Doc," he grumbled, feeling like an idiot for even having to accept a practical stranger's offer.
The doctor nodded back at him before turning to lock the door and holding his hand out toward his vehicle - the last one left in the parking lot. Wondering if he was even doing the right thing by returning to the house - but knowing it was the only option, because despite his fiance's penchant for drama, he still loved the stubborn shit - he walked over and slid into the passenger seat, wondering how in the hell things would be when he returned home.
Fifteen Minutes Later - Britin
Gus came running out of the house along with Tricky as soon as they heard Justin's vehicle pull up and come to a stop, the two moms trying with difficulty to keep up with them as they rushed down the sidewalk toward the SUV. Emmett and Daphne were presently at the back of the house, helping to ready the area for their friends' wedding and unaware of the drama unfolding elsewhere.
"Papa!" Gus shrieked as Justin emerged from the driver's seat. He reached over to attach Xena's leash to her collar before she scrambled over to his side of the SUV, hesitating briefly as she noticed the rather large drop to the curb. Justin reached over to lift her up and then gently placed her on the pavement as the others hurried over to them.
"How is she?" Gus asked worriedly. Tricky walked up and sniffed his daughter curiously, whining softly as if he were relieved to see her again. "Did they find Daddy's ring inside her and get it out?"
Justin sighed, noticing Lindsay and Mel giving him curious looks, no doubt wondering where Brian was at the moment. He nodded. "Well, yes and no. Xena DID swallow it, and it's inside her stomach at the moment. But they don't want to do surgery; that would be hard on a puppy, and he felt it wasn't necessary."
"Then how will they get it out?" He scrunched up his nose in confusion. "Mommy and Mama had rings when they got married. Daddy has to have his ring so he can get married. I'm supposed to give it to him." All of a sudden, he twisted his head around Justin to realize the SUV was unoccupied. "Where IS Daddy?" he said, asking the question that Justin had dreaded.
All eyes were on him - human as well as canine - as he knelt down next to Gus, turning his head just in time to evade one of Tricky's patented licks. "Uhh..." He hesitated, glancing up at both mothers, about to explain Brian's absence as best he could, before his previous comment finally registered with Mel as she realized what the 'solution' to the missing ring would be. "Oh, my God! Of course!" She chuckled. "Oh, this is too good. Brian Kinney has finally gotten himself into some deep shit, just like I thought he would."
Despite his and Brian's argument a little earlier, Justin couldn't help bristling over the way Mel seemed to be enjoying their predicament. Yes, he had laughed earlier when they had first found out the doctor's manner of treatment, but he was NOT laughing now. "Mel, it's not funny," he insisted, shaking his head.
"Mel, language," Lindsay quietly admonished him. "And he's right; this isn't funny. How would YOU have felt if it had happened to us before our wedding? You could be a little more compassionate."
Gus frowned, wondering what 'compassionate' meant. Being the extremely curious child that he was, he opened his mouth to ask, only to stop as Mel responded to her wife's scolding.
"Oh, come on, you two! Brian? Power-suit, nothing-out-of-place Brian? Oh, I could just imagine his face when he found out." In response to her son's look of befuddlement, she peered down at Gus to explain, "Xena will get rid of the ring naturally, Gus. It went in one end...and is has to come out the other. At least eventually, anyway." She half-smiled; she just couldn't help it.
Gus's eyes grew wide, and his mouth formed a perfect "O" as he asked, "You mean she has to poop it up?"
Even though Justin currently looked distressed, Lindsay couldn't help placing her hand over her mouth to stifle her own smile before she composed herself. "Well, Sweetheart, I guess that's one way of putting it," she responded softly.
Gus nodded thoughtfully. "Neat!" he decided abruptly, his eyes full of excitement. That sounded pretty cool to him, in a strange sort of 'Indiana Jones' way. It was certainly something HE had never experienced before. "Well, Daddy put me in charge of the rings," he told them firmly, pushing his shoulders back determinedly as he contemplated his responsibility. "Mommy, get me a plastic bag."
Mel's mouth hung open as she peered over at Lindsay for help.
"Uh...no, Gus," Lindsay advised him. "You are NOT going to follow that dog around until she sh...poops up your Daddy's ring!" She wrinkled her nose in distaste as she asked Justin, "Can it be...restored once it's...you know...recovered?"
"Well, it depends on whom you ask," Justin told her quietly. "According to the vet, yes, it can be completely cleaned and sanitized, and would be good as new. According to Brian, however...and I quote, 'I am certainly not going to wear a wedding ring that has had shit all over it.' Sorry, Gus," he apologized to the little boy for his profanity. "But that's the way your daddy said it."
Gus's face clouded over in distress. "You mean Daddy isn't going to want his ring?" He had been looking forward to dressing up in his miniature designer suit, just like his Daddy and Papa were going to wear, and marching down the aisle to give both of them their rings.
"Of course he will, Sweetheart," Lindsay soothed him. "He didn't really mean that," she assured him, looking over at Justin for confirmation.
"Oh, yes he did," Justin countered, unable to lie.
Lindsay sighed. "Well...then...he can use some other ring, at least until you can get him a replacement for his original one. Right?" To her surprise, Justin shook his head. "Justin?"
He looked down at Gus, who appeared decidedly unhappy, and he felt like shit himself. What had happened between him and Brian back at the vet's office? How stupid could he have been to insist that Brian either wear his ring, or no ring at all? Brian had been right. He wasn't marrying a piece of metal; he was marrying him. Yes, every sentimental bone in his body screamed for Brian to be sensible and let the jeweler clean and sanitize the ring so he could wear it in time for the wedding; but he also knew when it came down to it, he wanted to marry Brian whether there was any ring or not. Hell, he would use a fucking piece of LifeSaver candy if he had to. What was it he had once said to Brian that fateful evening years ago when he had to leave the next day for New York City? He had told him he didn't need rings or vows for them to prove their love. Nice job, Taylor, he berated himself.
Realizing everyone was still waiting for him to respond, he cleared his throat. "I...I don't think the wedding will take place...at least not on schedule, anyway." Or at all, he thought anxiously as he chewed on his lower lip.
Mel's mouth dropped open. She silently warned Brian that he'd better not fuck this up by refusing to marry this man, or he would never hear the end of it from her and a lot of other people. "You're kidding me? He called off the wedding all because of the ring?"
"No," Justin whispered painfully. "I did."
"What?!" Both women exclaimed at once.
"Papa, you and Daddy aren't getting married because he doesn't have his ring?" Gus asked, his lower lip quivering.
Justin couldn't bear to look Gus in the face, but he couldn't lie to him, either. "I guess not, Buddy. At least not now, anyway." And whose fault is that? He asked himself scornfully.
"Where IS Daddy? I want to talk to him. He's got to marry you. He loves you. That's what people do when they love each other, isn't it?" Gus asked him, his face scrunching up with dismay. To him, the answer was clear. Why couldn't his papa see that?
Justin swallowed hard, suddenly feeling ashamed of himself. Perhaps Gus's response was simplistic, but in a way he was right. Maybe you didn't have to get married if you loved someone, but he had been waiting for this forever, and now he might have promptly shot it all to hell, just because of not having a material symbol of their love. And that's all it was in the end - symbolic. It didn't change his love for him.
"He...he stayed behind at the vet's office." He didn't have the nerve to tell the child that he had more or less just left his father stranded there. He looked down at Gus's sorrow-filled face, suddenly feeling like a dumbass and a jerk; what had he been thinking?
He squatted down to gently grasp Gus by his upper arms. "Everything will work out okay, you'll see. Don't worry." He brushed some tears away from the little boy's cheeks before slowly pulling him into a tight embrace, closing his eyes to hide his own anguish.
The two women studied him. Both of them had questions regarding exactly what had happened, but they chose not to voice them aloud. None of this made a lot of sense to either one of them. Why had Justin left Brian at the vet's office if Xena came home with him? The only logical explanation was that they had had some sort of disagreement over what to do about Brian's ring - and it had segued into them breaking off their wedding.
"I...I need to go talk to him," Justin decided as he stood back up. "Would you watch Xena for me?" he asked the two women, still holding onto her leash.
"Of course, Sweetie," Lindsay told him as Justin handed the leash over to her. "You go do what you need to," she told him.
Justin was about to turn around and leave when Gus pulled on his shirt tail to get his attention. "What is it, Gus?" he asked him softly, his strong urge to get back to the vet's office to talk to his partner/fiancé/whatever he was called now warring with his need to be patient with Brian's son, who was still noticeably upset.
"I can go with you, Papa, and talk to him. He will listen to me," he pleaded, sniffling.
Justin thought his heart was going to break over Gus's words. "I know he would, Gus," he whispered as he placed the palm of his left hand against the little boy's cheek. "He loves you so much," he told him, watching as Gus blinked and a tear trickled down the child's face. "And so do I. But I need to talk to him alone. I'm not sure you can understand why, but you'll have to trust me that I will make everything right with your daddy, okay? I need for you to be the man of the house, and watch over Xena and Tricky for me while I'm gone. Can you do that for me, Buddy? I promise we will both come and see you when we get back home." Although, Justin thought silently, he couldn't be sure it would be together or alone. All he knew was that he couldn't let things stay the way they were.
To his relief, Gus wiped his face with the back of his hand and nodded, "I won't let you down, Papa," he told him as he reached over to take Xena's leash from his mother, standing up straight.
Justin thought he saw tears in both women's eyes as he murmured, "You never have, Gus." He took a deep breath. "I'll be back as soon as I can," he told the two women as they nodded back at him sympathetically. "Bye, Buddy," he told Gus as the boy waved back at him.
"Bye, Papa!" he shouted at him as Justin turned to head back to the SUV.
"What do you think that was all about?" Mel pondered as Justin slipped into the driver's seat of the SUV and prepared to leave.
Lindsay glanced down at her tearful son. "I have my theories. But not now," she murmured, bobbing her head slightly at their child to indicate it was best they discuss it in private.
Gus leaned over and hugged Tricky on the back, pressing the side of his face against his fur. The dog seemed to understand his anguish as, for once, he remained still and quiet, allowing Gus to continue embracing him and offering what comfort he could.